An exposition of Jude's Epistle of apostacy

LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

PRINCETON. N. J,

PRESENTED BY

Mrs. Huston Dixon

Division JZ?i!l2.^2D IJlj
Section.

.S85S

In compliance with current copyright law, Etherington

Conservation Services produced this replacement volume

on paper that meets ANSI Standard Z39.48-1992 and ISO

9706. Preservation facsimile printing and binding

by Etherington Conservation Services

Browns Summit, North Carolina.

www.thehfgroup.com

2007

00

Conser'vntion Services

IH-Group

AN EXPOSITION

OF

JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

By Rev. D. ROUND.

^-^^<?i-S

LONDON:
S. VV. PARTRIDGE & CO.,

9, PATERNOSTER ROW.

PI^E^FACf;^

THE Epistle of Jude may be fitly called the Epistle of
Apostacy, as it contains so much on the subject. It
brings before us the apostacy of the children of Israel in
the wilderness ; the apostacy of Sodom and Gomorrah from
ail natural religion ; the apostacy of angels from their first
estate. These facts are sufficient to show in what apostacy
consists, viz. : in departure from the place the grace of
God gives to angels or men. Apostacy in its strict
meaning can only apply to those who have known the
truth and wilfully departed from it. A heathen cannot be
said to apostatize ; a Christian may. Very early in the
history of the Church apostacy soon began to reveal itself.
The seeds were sown within the pale of the Church in the
days of the apostles. Hence the apostles in their later
epistles sought to forewarn and arm the faithful against
those v/ho were teaching and propagating what was per-
nicious and corrupting to faith and practice. Jude speaks
distinctly of " certain men, leaders in apostacy, who had
crept in privately, ungodly men turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and
Lord, Jesus Christ." Thus, alas, the very bosom of the
Church became the seed-bed of various errors and corrup-
tions, The outcom-e of the seed sown may be traced in
one form or other, and in greater or less degree through
the history of the Church. No revival, or reformation

4 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF A POST AC Y.

has succeeded in rooting up the tares within the hmits of
a professed Christianity.

What shall we say, rather, what does our Lord and His
chosen and inspired servants say, of the character and
close of this dispensation? It is from them, and not from
the hopeful optimist, or desponding pessimist, we learn its
character and end. In the light of their prophetic utter-
ances we discern many of the features of apostacy in the
present day, under the prevailing guise of Christianity.
" The falling away " was not unforeseen by Christ, " When
the Son of Man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?"
We conceive the lack of faith implied in this question will
not arise from the fewness, so much as from the degeneracy
and apostacy of Christian professors, so that they who
bear the name of Christ will practically revolt from the
faith. The apostacy of the latter times is foretold in the
plainest language by St. Paul. In writing to his son
Timothy, he says, " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
(definitely) that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of
demons "(i Tim. iv. i). There were among the Thes-
salonians persons who were troubled, and disturbing others
with the notion that the day of the Lord was actually, or
virtually, present. To quiet and silence such, the apostle
specifies certain precursors of that day. " Let no man
deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come
except the apostacy come first, and the man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition." " Remember ye not that
when I was yet with you I told you these things." He
informs them that the mystery of iniquity tvas even then
working. Only there is now a restraining power, keeping
it in check for a certain time. But the moment the
70 KdTcxhv or "letting power" is taken out of the way, the

PREFACE. 5

mystery of iniquity comes into full and unrestrained opera-
tion. The floodgates of lawlessness will be opened, and
the state of society will speedily become utterly dis-
organized. Such is the vista of the future as given in
Scripture. The mystery of iniquity is at work e^'ery\vhere
in Christendom, and will continue to work, till at last, when
the restraint is gone, it will issue in the revelation of the
man of sin, the son of perdition, who will dare to take the
place of God in the temple of God.

The conclusion to which v/e are conducted is that a
crisis in Christendom is hastening and at hand. The
present dispensational period of grace will soon be com-
pleted. Let us not close our eyes to the fearful signs of
these times, nor to the lessons they teach. Troubles are
thickening around us \ scepticism and godlessness are
openly avowed. Men blinded by the spirit of infatuation,
in this and other so-called Christian lands, are ready when
occasion offers to cast off all restraint, to reject all law, rule,
and government ; and thus to prepare the way for the
reign of the " lawless one," " whom the Lord shall con-
sume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of His coming."

CoKteKts.

Exposition I.- — Jude 1-3.

The personality of Jude — The characters whona he ad-
dresses— The comprehensive invocation : 1, Mercy ;
2, Peace ; 3, Love — How the triune may be increased —
The exhortation needed — The writer's original in-
tention— The faith to be contended for — Divinely
given — Delivered " once for all" — Danger suggested
— The faith worth preserving — The responsibility of
ministers and deacons for the preservation of the
faith 13

Exposition II.

The necessity for the exhortation to be vigilant ifi preserving
the faith. — Verses 4-10.

The stealthy entrance of false teachers into the Church —
Denying the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ —
Their character and condemnation noted beforehand
in the Scriptures — Jude recalls to our memories
three cases of apostacy — Israel — Angels — The
Sodomites — The app)lication of these cases to
apostates — Threefold description of their character
— Tilichael the archangel contending with the
Devil about the body of Closes — The death of Moses
— Michael brought no railing accusation against the
Devil — The reverence of the archangel in contrast
to these men who dare to despise dominion and to
speak evil of dignities — Evil speaking condemned
by the conduct of Michael, the example of Christ,
and the teachings of the apostles ... ... ... 19

Exposition III.

Types of the men who/n Jude describes by the use of mariy
strong similitudes. — Verse ii.

The way of Cain described — Began in unbelief — Refused
Divine counsel — Breaks his allegiance to God, and
went out from His presence — Pursued his own path
independent of God — Built " a fort " in defence of
himself and the partner of his exile — Dedicated it
to his firstborn — The world his portion ; resolved to
make the best of it — Gathers around his family
sources of interest and luxury ; lives a prosperous
life in forgetfuluess of God — The way of Cain still

JUDE'S EPISTLE OF A POST A CY.

PAGE

exibts, .111(1 never so ^^opiilar as in the ^^I'cscut day —
The Cain t^V^ is l^ekl up as a beacon to warn — Woe
to them that go in the way of Cain — Expostulation
■ — The error of Balaam — Once a true prophet — For-
bidden to curse Israel — A sj^lendid bait — Speaks
slightingly of it, j-et his heart set upon it — The
desire of his heart granted — Rebuked for his folly
— Blessed those whom he is hired to curse — Balak
disappointed — Balaam turns traitor — Seeks to turn
Israel from God — Seduced them into fornication —
Thousands perished — The closing scene — The deadly
error of Balaam composed of two parts : covetousiiess
and corrupt teaching — He taught Balak to seduce
Israel from their sejiaration into guilty mixture with
the nations around — Balaam teachers in the Church
at Pergamos sought to corruj^t the disciples of Christ
by tempting them to form unholy alliances with the
M'orld — Such teaching is ruining thousands. Korah,
his (jainsaying and punishment — He and his company
set themselves against IMoses and Aaron — IMoses
reasoned with Korah, and charged him and his con-
federates with rebellion against the Lord — They were
visited with Divine wrath — Korah atyjoe of ambitious
men — A summary of the teaching of the three types
— The characteristics of the anti-types — Self-in-
dulgent— Clouds without rain — Trees without fruit —
Doubly dead — Turbulent, like waves of the sea —
Wandering stars — To whom is reserved the blackness
of darkness for ever ... ... ... ... ... 26

Exposition IV.

Efwch's prophecy of the coming of the Lord to execute
vengeance upon the tnigodly. — Verses 14, 15.

Enoch's life — His prophecy inserted in this epistle under
the sanction and authority of the Holj^ Spirit — The
coming of Christ foretold in two aspects — The second
coming announced as with trumpet voice — Nigh at
hand — The announcement of the event fails to
awaken — Professing Christians would rather not hear
of it — The manner of the Lord's coming foretold —
Two stages of His coming : first, for His saints ; the
second stage, 2vith His saints and holy angels — Comes
in majesty, power, and glory — The purpose of His
coming — The prophecy had reference to the im-
mediate and remote judgment — The ungodly in
Enoch's time are tj'j^es of the ungodly in the times
preceding the Lord's coming — Other prophecies cited
— The testimony of the Lord and of the apostles —
The coming of the Lord will occasion terror to the
ungodlj'- — The world rapidly ripening for judgment —
The ungodly convicted and condemned — An appeal
to the saved and unsaved 37

CONTENTS. 9

PAGB

Exposition V.

A fuyfher dcSC7-iptio)i of the cliaracteristics of tlie tiin^odly.

Vkrses 16-19.
Other views and asjiects of the uuo-odly — IMurmurers —
Never ijleased with fiiiythiug — The murmuring spirit
comes out iu various ways — "They shape their course
according to their own lusts " — Lusts defined — In-
bred— They are given to them and obey them —
Boasters — Speaking great s^vclling words — They can-
not brook restraint — " Set their mouth against the
heavens " — Disregard God's Word — Follow their own
notions, and pursue their own thoughts — Flatterers
of the favourites and leaders of their jjarty —
Favourite ministers idolized — Parasites iu the
ministry who fawn and flatter the rich to gain
advantage — There is an admiration that is allowed
to ministers ; parents ; elders — More respect due to
some than others — Our admiration of j^ersons of
distinction condemned when excessive and for gain
and advantage ... .. ... ... ... ... 44

Exposition VI.

MeDwrable words. — -Verses 17-19.
Jude reminds the faithful of what the apostles have said
of these times — Words of warning not confined to
this ei^istle — The concurrent testimony of Christ and
His apostles in regard to the apostacy of the last
days — The words spoken claim our reverent atten-
tion— liemembcr I We are apt to forget M'hat is said
of mockers and ungodly men — A due consideration
will prevent misconce^jtion and false hopes — Read
and study what is said of this dispensation ... 48

Exposition VII.

Duty of believers to establish the/iiselves in the faith. Ver. 20.

The picture of those who have departed from the faith
not to be tampered with — Given that we may take
warning — A relief to turn fi-om the subject of
apostacy to consider the practical exhortation to
believers — Jude's tender concern for them — The ex-
hoi-tation to believers then is of importance noic.
Mutual edification enjoined — The foundation of the
edifice — What it is, and what it is not — The Ajoostle
Paul unfolds the central facts of our faith — Buildings
established on those foundation truths are al^le to
stand against all the errors of the present day —
The building enjoined — The material to correspond
with the foundation — Co-ojjeratiou required in
raising the spiritual structure — jNIutual helj^fulness
to be rendered by social jjrayer, fellowship, and by

10 !UDE\S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

PACE

godly intercourse and conversation with each other
— Our duty to be true and faithful to the holy
relationships into Avhich we have entered — The
foundations of our faith are secretly undermined — ■
The poison of error is at work in our Churches — ■
The responsibility of the members of the Church to
built each other up — No reference to the work of
the Christian minister — INIinisterial gifts may be
perverted from their specific purpose — Believers at
such times to fraternize and co-operate with each
other until the building is comj)lete ... ... 51

Exposition VIII,

^^ Praying m the Holy Ghost, '^ a S7veet privilege a7id profit-
able habit, giving strength for spiritual tvork.

Building and prayer joined together — No building
where there is no prayer — Prayer essential to
success — The evidence of a soul quickened into life
— Prayer in the Holy Ghost — The testimony of
ScriiDture to the work of the Spirit as the Helper
in prayer — The right kind of prayer not understood
by the formalist — Discerned by the spiritual— The
spirit of prayer needed — The distinction between
the gift and the spirit of prayer — The latter more
important than the former — Bishoji Leighton
cited — Excuses for silence in meetings for prayer —
The spirit of prayer will improve the gift — The
timid disciple urged to live in the Spirit, then
prayer in the social meeting will cease to be "a
load, and worship a task " — Nothing will make up
for the absence of the Spirit— Prayer without the
Sjjirit is powerless — Dr. A. Clarke on prayer — How
may we distinguish jDrayer in the Spirit ? Ist, those
who pray in the Spirit, pray much in the dialect of
the SiDirit ; 2ud, In the name of Jesus ; 3rd, In
subjection to the known will of God ; and 4th, In
faith — Let us make much of His indwelling presence
— Cherish every feeling which He excites — Attend
to His faintest whisper — Prayer for the Holy Spirit.. 58

Exposition IX.

The command to preserve the love of God in the heart.
" Keep yourselves in the love of God."

Jude assumes that the persons addressed are in the love
of God, and counsels them to keep in it — The ex-
hortation implies the possibility of losing this love
— Declensions common — Special reasons why we
should keep in it : 1, The love of God is the
essence of true religion ; 2, It produces checi'ful
obedience to the Divine will; 3, It constrains us

CONTENTS. 1 1

PACE

to love the people of God ; 4, It is the great pre-
servative from error; 5, It kcejxs the inner mania
moral order; 6, Because we shall be esteemed and
loved of God — For the same reasons we should
grow in it— The touching words of the Rev. E.
Bickcrsteth during his illness— A few directions as
to the means of preserving this love in the heart
— The command to keep in it is as Divine as the
promise- We can by the exercise of the grace given
do what is enjoined — Avoid what would damp it
— E-epleuish it from the resources of Scripture —
Persevere in obedience to the will of God — Fre-
quently meditate on the love of God revealed to
us in Christ Jesus ... ... ... 65

Exposition X.

Looking expecfantly for mercy and eternal life.

^'- Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ nnto

eternal life.^''

Looking an outgoing of love to Him for whom wc look
— He that is not looking lacks an essential feature
of the Christian character — What we look for —
Mercy, rewarding, crowning mercy — The best of
men will need the mercy of our Lord in that day
— Paul prayed that Onesiphorus may find mercy of
the Lord — -We have no claim to it, nevertheless we
look expectantly to receive the precious gifts of
His mercy — Mercy unto eternal life — Life embraces
the blissful immortality of both soul and body —
The perfect happiness of the whole man— Eternal
life will be mercy in her plenitude, without measure
and without end — Looking for our Lord Jesus Christ
is the attitude of the Christian as described in the
New Testament — Looking ! A blessed state of
mind to be in — The practical influence of this
looking —It nerves us with fresh energy for service
— Lifts the heart up out of its cares and discourage-
ments— Believers exhorted to hope to the end for
the grace which is to be brought at the revelation
of Jesus Christ ... ... ■•. ... ... ... 73

Exposition XT.

The special duties required of all in reference to apostates.

Verses 22, 23.

Recapitulation of the exhortation— The duty to care for
those that are not in the faith — Compassion for
them— The compassion of Christ is what we should
feel— The objects of it — Where found — More com-
passion would increase our power for usefulness —
Compassion discriminating, " making a diiferenee "

12 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF AFOSTACY.

— A difference in the clinractur of apostates —
Wisdom needed in the treatinent of each — Praj'cr
for sj^iritnal discernment — tiomc arc in the fire —
Their perilous condition — They are iji the lire of
sin — "Wickedness burneth like fire " — Sin, like fire,
has in it the po^ver to ruin spirit, soul, and Ijody
— All who are living in sin arc liable to the fire
of Divine justice — The wrath of a holy God terrible
to contemplate — Compared to fire — The expression
of His hatred to sin — Historical facts reveal His
wrath against ungodliness — The VvTath to come—
The Lord Jesus will come to avenge Himself upon
His enemies— A fearful thing to fall under His
righteous wrath — The rescue ivm-lc — Save iviih fear —
Godly fear influential — Noah exhibited its influence
■ — The servants of Pharoah that feared the Lord,
saved their cattle — This fear the fruit of faith,
and a motive to action — Under its influence we
shall be anxious to save men — This fear in its
operation will produce earnestness — The nature of
the work demands it — We cannot excuse our ease
and inactivity — We cannot shirk our responsibilit}''
for the souls of others — Unbelief underlies apathy
in reference to the spiritual condition of the masses
In putting forth efforts to pluck men out of the
fire care must be taken to preserve our own purity,
" hating even the garments spotted hj the flesh "
— Wc must hate the sins and love the sinner... ... 77

Exposition XII.

The Closing Doxology, — Verses 24, 25.

The author's aim in tracing in this epistle the prin-
ciples and practices of apostacy — The closing dox-
ology completes and adorns the epistle — What God
our Saviour is able to do for us here and hereafter
■ — He IS able to keep us from falling — Able to
present us faultless before the presence of His glory
The doxology to be sung now — All through life
— The apostles celebrated the glory of God their
Saviour — Doxologies are interwoven in their epistles
— Jude's doxology magnificent — Glory, majesty,
dominion and power are ascribed to our Saviour
God — The peri^etuity of this anthem of praise, " now
and ever" — It begins on earth and will lie con-
tinued with deeper intelligence in heaven — The
sanction and confirmation of the doxology —
"Amen," so let it be— Every true Christian will
echo the Amen 87

JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY

EXPOSITION I.

"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them
that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ,
and called : Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that
ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto
the saints." — JuDE 1-3.

JUDAS, the traitor, is called the son of perdition ; Judas,
the author of this Epistle, is known as the son of
Alpheus, and one of our Lord's kindred (Matt. xiii. 55).
But though closely related to the Lord, he styles himself
"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of Jaines."
He neither calls himself an apostle, nor the Lord's brother.
He contents himself with the humble, though truly honour-
able title, " Servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James."
Probably he names his relation to James, because, as an
apostle, he was better known than himself, and was held in
high estimation and reputation in the Church ; he was
famous for his sanctity of life, and accounted a pillar in
the Church of Christ. Jude, therefore, by speaking of
himself as a brother of James, might thereby win attention
and credit to his Epistle from those to whom he wrote.
This Epistle is of special interest and importance in our
times. No writer in the New Testament wrote so little as
Jude, but a full expansion of the various points he introduces
into this brief letter would fill volumes. We shall not enter
into a minute and critical analysis of its contents, but
endeavour to give a few thoughts on what is said in this
little Epislle of the beginning and end of Christian apostacy.

14 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

The Characters Addressed.

We see in the first verse to whom the Apostle is writing.
It is not to any one Church, or local assembly, it is to
Christians at large, and even every individual Christian
wherever he may be : "to them that are sanctified by God
the Father^ and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called."
"Sanctified by God the Father." What words are these!
What words for the heart of faith ! What marvellous grace
on the part of God ! What is it to be thus sanctified ? —
some may inquire. It is to be set apart for a holy use — to
be separated from the v/orld, from guilt and pollution, and
to be brought into a state of holiness. The author of this
sanctification is God the Father. It is God that justifieth ;
no less is it God that sanctifieth. He gave His Son to
redeeni us from all iniquity, and to purify unto Himself a
peculiar people. He cleanses and purifies all that believe
in Jesus. He sanctifies through belief of the truth. Hence
the prayer addressed to God as the sanctifier of his saints,
" Sanctify them through Thy truth ; Thy word is truth."
"Preserved in Jesus Christ," The sanctified are the
preserved in Jesus — they are every vray secure against the
temptations of an evil world, and the many false teachers
employed by the devil as instruments to niislead and ruin
unstable souls. This security realised by those v/ho are in
Christ is an answer to the prayer of the blessed Lord, in
John xvii. ii: "Holy Father, keep through Thy own
name those whom Thou hast gi-i^en Me." The fidelity of
God is pledged to keep them.. He is not only able but
faithful to preserve them to the end. None are safe, but
such as are in Christ. They are kept and preserved in Him.

Having our lot cast in an evil time, v/hen soul-destroying
errors abound, and when false teachers cf every kind
mislead so many, what a comfort to be able to realise the
blessed state of the sanctified and preserved ones ! Am I

1 We have kept to tbe A.V. ; at the same time, we receive the R.V,
" Beloved ill (jod the l''aiher," as the right reading of the Greek t^^xt^

EXPOSITION I. I 5

among the happy number of those who are sanctified and
preserved /;/ Jesus Christ ? Oh, blessed condition ; to be
in Christ Jesus, is to be free from every fear, to be safe
from every enemy, to be quiet and confident, though a
thousand dangers surround us !

The Invocation.

But while Jude congratulates the persons he addresses as
the sanctified, preserved, and called, he prays to God on
their behalf, that mercy, peace, and love may be multiplied.
The blessings invoked come from God through Christ.
They have their source in Him, and flow from Him as from
an inexhaustible fountain, i st. The mercy of God is invoked. —
" Mercy unto you." Though pardoned and spoken of as
sanctified, they still needed mercy ; the holiest of men need
God's mercy. While in the world, encompassed with
infirmities, and passing through conflicts, they will need the
tender mercy of God. They will need it in all the crises of
life, and in the great day of the Lord the need of this mercy
remains. Hence, the Apostle prays for mercy — multiplied
mercy — mercy in its manifold aspects. May you daily and
hourly experience afresh the sweetness of God's mercy !
2nd. The invocation includes peace. These Christians had
peace — peace as the fruit of grace, peace in the conscience,
the peace of God, the peace of a spiritual mind. Jude
invokes an increase of it.

" Peace be Multiplied."

May it abound more and more ; may the peace of God
keep your hearts and minds, through Jesus Christ. May
the Lord of peace give you peace always, and by all means 1
3rd. The third grace invoked is love. They had a measure
of it in possession. It cam.e from God through Christ, and
was shed abroad in their renewed nature by the Holy Ghost.
And as it came from God, it is the same in kind as the love
of God. It is pure, free from selfishness,, disinterested ; it
extends to enemies as well as to friends. It is patient and

lu JUDE'S EPISTLE OF AFOSTACV.

hopeful : it beareth all things, hopeth all things, believeth
all things. It makes us Godlike, " For God is love, and he
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (i
John iv. 1 6). How precious to us is the thought that we
are capable of receiving and exercising a love like God's !
But this Divine love admits of increase. Jude prayed for
it. Love be multiplied, which means a further degree of
augmentation — more love to God, and more love to one
another. But how is it to be increased ? Well, the more
we know of Divine truth, the more will this love multiply ;
the more we exercise it, the more it will strengthen. " This
I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in
knowledge, and in all judgment " (Phil. i. 9) ; Jude saw
there was room for an increase of the triune graces^ and
therefore prayed, "Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be
multiplied."

The Exhortation Needed.

The exhortation of Jude now claims our attention. It
was evidently his original intention to write to the beloved
brethren of the common salvation. This would have been
his far more delightful task. It would have been his joy
and his refreshment to expatiate upon the present privileges
and future glories, wrapped up in the comprehensive folds
of that precious word, "salvation." But he felt it needful
to turn from this more congenial work, in order to fortify
their souls against the rising tide of error and evil, which
threatened the very foundations of Christianity. " Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation it was needful for me to write unto you, and
exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints."

The faith to be contended for, is simply, " the word of
the truth of the Gospel " — the Gospel which the apostles
received and were commissioned to preach. It is designated
the faith because it is "the word to be believed." We read
of Bar-Jesus, a sorcerer and false prophet, who "sought to

turn away the deputy from the faith." "A great company
of priests were obedient to the faith." " He now preached
the faith which before he destroyed." The Gospel is fitly
called the faith, as it reveals the doctrines of faith — the
truths to be believed to salvation; and more particularly the
doctrine of faith in Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer.
The Gospel of the Cross is the power of God unto

Salvation to Every One that Believeth.

Observe, it is flie 07ily Diviuely-given faith. It was firs',
received by inspired men from the Lord, and delivered b)
them to the saints — the first deliverance is the final one.
It will never give place to something higher and holier than
itself. It will never be repeated, nor superseded by another
Gospel. We expect no new faith, no advanced Gospel, at
it is called. We are not to add to, or take from, the faith
given. It is complete, it is sufficient. It ivas once for all
delivered unto the saints (see Revised Version). We have
in the faith a rich treasure — a precious deposit to guard.

The call to contend for the faith suggests danger. It
would be unnecessary for the inspired writer to press upon
us the duty of contending for the faith, if it were not
assailed. It h:is enemies. As in Jude's day, so now all
that is vital is at stake ;

False Teachers would Rob Us

of the faith, or lead us away from it. Teachings subversive
of the Christian faith abound. There are numbers who
seek to depreciate it, to pervert it, and to change it. Many
are openly opposed to the faith and reject; its communications.
It is, therefore, our duty to contend, not for favourite
notions, theories, or systems, but for the faith of the Gospel.
It behoves us to stir one another up to faithfulness and zeal
— to strenuous effort against sin and error, with the holy
resolve to maintain the essential verities of the faith of
Christ. There must be no truce with error ; no comproniise
with the enemies of the Gospel. They nuiu be "■''p.t.

i-esisted, and overcome ; not indeed by violence, or railing,
c-r force ; not by penal statutes or any form of persecution ;
but by Christian love, and by the plain word of God — the
positive truth of Scripture. This faith is

Worth Preserving at any Cost.

The apostles thought so, the martyrs thought so, the
reformers thought so. They considered the faith to be
their life, and were willing to suffer and die for it. Some of
us have been saved by Gospel truths, and these truths are
dear to us, and we desire that our children's children may
possess them as their heritage^ The faith is committed to
our trust ; let us hold fast its doctrines, value its principles,
practise its precepts, and reject all sentiments and opinions
not in harmony with its teachings and its requirements.

'■ Should all the forms which men devise,
Assault my faith with treacherous art ;
I'd call them, vanity and lies,

And bind the Gospel to my heart."

Ministers are set for the defence and confirmation of the
faith. Deacons of churches are charged by St. Paul to
hold "the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience."
Christians everywhere are enjoined to "stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the
Gospel." JMay the Lord give to us courage "earnestly to
contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints," that
when brought to the close of life we may be able with Paul
to say, "I have kept the faith."

19

EXPOSITION II.

T]ie iiccessity for the exhortation to be vigilant in presej-ving
the faith. — Read from the 4th to the 9th verse.

THE reason for this watchfuhiess and vigilance is given
in words of warning, ver. 4: '■'■ For there are certain
men crept in unawares." The Apostle probably knew who
they were, but forbears to give their names. He describes
their entrance — they crept in stealthily, or by specious pre-
tences, and when in the Church they began to sow their bad
seed. They preached in a deceitful way doctrines of liberty.
They sought by words and phrases to clear the way for the
full indulgence of the will, to set it free from everything that
restrained it. As a covering of their grossest guilt they ask.
"Are we not as God made us?" "Are not our lips our
own ? " They claimed the right to act, to think, and to
speak as they please. They turned the pure and precious
grace of our God into lasciviousness, denying both by their
words and works " our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.''
" Who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men." The word translated ordained, signihes
prescribed, or written beforehand in the Scriptures con-
cerning these men and their condemnation. The infinite
mind of God knows all, and notes down beforehand all that
in the process of time takes place against the day of iudg=
ment.

Examples of Apostacy.

The Apostle proceeds to cite several examples of apostac)
as warnings to us, ver. 5 : "I will therefore put you in
remembrance." The Apostle felt it to be his duty to recall
to their mind historical facts formerly understood, yet possibly

20 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF A POST AC Y.

almost forgotten, orat least for the present not duly considered
or remembered. It is also our duty as ministers to put you
in mind of things that are past. The memories of the best
of Christians are frail, and need to be stirred up again and
again by way of remembrance. The Apostle recalls to our
memory three cases of apostacy.

( I .) The exodus and failure of Israel. " I \vill therefore put
you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that
the Lord, having saved His people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed them that L^elieved not." The evil of
unbelief was the root of their apostacy, their downfall and
their judgment. Ihese things happened unto them for
ensamples, and are written for our admonition on whom the
ends of the world are come, " Take heed, brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God." You are like Israel redeemed out of
Egypt. You, as they v^'ere, have been delivered by the
blood of the Lamb. You have made a profession of faith in
Jesus. You are a recognised member of a Christian church.
You know the grace of God in truth. Take heed, lest by
unbelief you depart from the living God. The fearful fact
is here brought before you, that the people ransomed out of
Egypt perished in the wilderness. They proA'oked God b)'
their unbelief, and died under His frown of anger. They
fell without obtaining the hope set before them. It is
possible for you to fall from grace, to lose your hope of
heaven, and to be lost for ever.

(2.) llie secofid case is the afostacy of augels and tlicir
punishment. "The angels which kept not their first estate,
but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day,"
ver. 6. "They kept not their first estate." It is quite clear
tha c'.ngels, like men, were created in a probationary

sta ■, and m Uiv. uei^mnmg, like men, holy and happy.
\\ •' ey "kept not their first estate," that is, they preserved
li.. 1 'heir ^'••'"'nal position and dignity in the order of created
beings, which they might have done by obeying God's com-

Exrosrrjo.v if. 21

niands. They apostatized, they voluntarily dj[)a!-ted from
tlie position in which God had placed them. I'hey "left
their own habitation " of light and purity, and in consequence
of their rebellion are reserved in "everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the great day."

I'he doom of these a^jostate angels is fearful. It is
exijressed \vithout any prospect of a change, any hope of a
rei)rieve, and will be eternal in its duration. W'liat an
appalling destiny is awaiting them ! They are kept prisoners
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day — what a
judiiment that will be — final, unalterable, indescribable.

The design of St. Jude in making known the fall and
doom of these celestial beings must be kept in mind. It is
to warn and admonish us. May it also Jiainbk ! If such
beings fell, so may we. It is possil)le for us to become
discontented with our "estate" as believers, and to wilfully
rebel against God. Remember that sin in us is essentially
the same as sin in angels, and will be equally punished.
Let us keep this warning in mind and be uniformly humble.
Let us guard against every tendency to pride and discontent,
lest we fall into the darkness these fallen angels experience.

(3.) The sill and doo)?t of Sodom a?id GonwrraJi. " Even as
Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in like
manner with these (the angels), giving themselves over to
fornication, and going after strange (another) flesh, are set
forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire,''
ver. 7. Here is a description of the apostacy of Sodom and
Gomorrah from all natural religion, giving themselves to
practices contrar)' even to fallen nature. I'heir vices were
coarse, their sensuality excessive ; they wallowed in scenes
of pollution, and their conversation in social circles was
filthy. The cry of their iniquities and abominations went
up to heaven. What was the answer to the cry? We see
the answer in the blue rain of burning sulphur from the
Lord out of heaven. We see it in the ruin and perpetual
desolation of these cities. As we stand on the shore of that
gloomy lake called the " Lead Sea," and look around, we

22 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

ask, Where is Sodom? Where is Gomorrah ? AVhere are
the cities of the plain — those cities once so flourishing and
prosperous ? Where are they now ? They are gone for
ever ! Swept away by the judgments of God, consumed by
the fire of His wrath. Oh. what a warning is thus given to
sinners of the doom of their sins. There are, beheve me,
greater offenders in the sight of God, than even the men of
Sodom, and consequently a more fearful judgment awaits
them. The men of Capernaum, who beheld and rejected
the light of the world, will meet with a deeper, darker doom
than the unclean sinners of the plain who are said to be
"suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Matt. xi. 23),
And why ? Not because they were guilty of grosser sin
than Sodom, but because they refused to listen to the voice
of heavenly wisdom ; they believed not in Jesus, though
most of His mighty v/orks had been done among them.
Theirs v/as the deeper, darker sin of unbelief. What Christ
said of the men of Capernaum, may be said of men of this
nation — of men in every town and city in Christendom. Is it
not true that we have light Sodom never had — religious
advantages Capernaum never enjoyed? Is not this nation
favoured above many ? What then will be the guilt of those
who rebel against the light, who will not hear the Gospel,
will not come to Christ, will not accept the proffered mercy.
We cannot measure their guilt before God. What will be
their doom? We tremble to think of it. It shall be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the judg-
ment day, than for men in England who have heard Christ's
Gospel, and received it not. They shall be punished ac-
cording to the measure of their guilt. The doom of Sodom
is set forth as a beacon to warn : take heed to it ere it be
too late.

Thus we have three heart-stirring examples of apostacy,
and their fearful doom expressly stated, which ought to
deter us from all approaches to apostacy, and to preserve us
from forsaking the old paths of belief In the eighth verse
the writer again alludes to " certain men," the same persons

EXPOSITION 1 1. 23

previously named in ver. 4, and gives a threefold description
of their real character as apostates. " Likewise also these
dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil
of dignities."

(1.) These dreamers are charged with di.filing the flesh.
They defiled themselves by fornication, as the people of
Sodom had done before tliem. They are filthy dreamers,
who spend their life in fulfilling their carnal lusts, and are a
curse to themselves, and to all with whom they have inter-
course. Men of corrupt mindS; vile affections in whom
there is no truth.

(2.) They despise dominion. The desire of their heart is
to be independent of rule and rulers, and to live without
restraint in the practice of their evil deeds. In the days of
the apostles they were known under the name of Simonians
and Nicolaitanes- There have been a series of such men
in every age of the Church. They acknowledge no authority,
either in church or in state, and wish to live as they list.
Are not these characters abounding in our days in all so-
called Christian countries ?

(3.) Thf.y speak evil of dignities. They have no reverence
for the powers that be. They treat both governors and
government with contempt, and calumniate and ip.isrepresent
Divine and civil institutions, sovereigns and princes, ministers
of state, magistrates, and almost all human dignities are
exposed to ridicule and made the butt of satire. These are
features of the apostacy common in our day. Against these,
and such like persons, we have need to be on our guard, lest
we should be seduced by them.

I'o show these men, who are prone to speak evil of
dignities, their daring wickedness, and to make them, if
possible, sensible of it, their attention is directed to the
conduct of Michael the archangel towards the devil himself:
"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the
devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring
against him a railing accusation, but said. The Lord rebuke
thee," ver. 9. Michael appears to be the chief of the holy

24 JUDE\S EPISTLE OF A POST AC Y.

angels, but nevertheless a created being. In this passage

he is represented as contending with the devil about the

body of Moses. "There is reason to ])clieve that Moses is

not dead. He did indeed 'die in the mount,' according to

the command of God ; but he was seen alive in the days of

the Saviour on the mount of transfiguration 'in glory,' and

hence in resurrection life. He must, therefore, have been

raised again from the state of death ; raised in advance of

the general resurrection of the saints, as Enoch and Elijah

were translated before the general translation of God's

waiting and watching ones at the coming of the Lord. And

if we are at all warranted in this belief, the dispute between

the archangel xMichael and the devil 'about the body of

Moses ' was a contention about the resurrection, the one

standing up for the recovery of that body from death, and

the other resisting." ^ Moses, by reason of the error at Meri-

bah, had been doomed to die before the Israelites entered

Canaan. Satan had then "the power of death" (Heb. ii,

14), and would contend on several grounds against Moses

being raised. Michael, however, did not bring a railing

accusation against him ; he had no disposition to do so ;

whatever insults he received, his only reply v.'as, "The Lord

rebuke thee." The argument then is, that if the highest

angel felt it not proper to pass judgment upon Satan, but

said, " The Lord rebuke thee ! " how dare these sinful men

"despise dominion and speak evil of dignities" ordained

by God.

The vilcness of the apostate spirit adds strength to the
argument. Michael might have imputed evil to his opponent
without giving utterance to slander ; he might have used
reproachful language, and accused him in the strongest
terms of all manner of evil, and that justly; but no, he had
no disposition to rail, to accuse ; and does not the conduct
of Michael show that however bad a person may be, it does
not justify a railing accusation against him ? We are for-
bidden to revile. " Thou shalt not revile the gods (judges),
^ Seiss on Revelation, vol. ii. p. 354.

EXPOSITION II.

25

nor curse ihe rulers of thy people" (Ex. xxii. 2S). No
reviler can enter the kingdom of heaven. If angels who
excel in power and niight, rail not, but appeal to the judg-
ment of God ; if Jesus our pattern, when reviled, reviled not
again, but committed himself to God v,-ho judgeth right-
eously, then let us avoid evil speaking. Speak evil of no
man. Let us not rail against men in authority, even sup-
posing them in some things to behave amiss. " He that
refraineth his lips is wise." The spirit of lawlessness is
confessedly active in the present day, sapping the foundation
of civil society. Ministers of state, judges, and magistrates,
whom we are taught to respect and venerate, are caricatured
and reviled. Men are not afraid to " speak evil of dignities."
Let us learn to " submit ourselves to every ordinance of
man for the Lord's sake ; v^hether it be to the king as
supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by
Him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of
them that do well" (i Peter ii. 13, 14- 'I'itus iii. i, 2;
Rom., xiii. i-^),

26

EXPOSITION IIL

Types of the men whom Jiide desirihes by the use of many
strong siinilitiides.

"Woe unto them ! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran
greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gain-
saying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they
feast with you, feeding themselves without fear ; clouds they are with»
out water, carried about of winds ; trees v/hose fruit withereth, without
fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots ; raging waves of the sea,
foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved
the blackness of darkness for ever," — Verses 11-13.

THE reader's attention is now directed to the third portion
of this Epistle. May the Lord enable us to rightly
expound it. The eleventh verse gives us the types of the
various forms of evil and apostacy that appeared in Jude's
time, and that will be more fully brought out in the last
days. The types are Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Their
ways Vv^ere bad, attended v/ith misery, and ended in woe.
There are other types of the many dark and terrible forms
of departure from the truth and ways of God, but our
thoughts at present must be restricted to the three promi-
nently brought before us in this passage.

(I.) The way of Cain. What is it? It may be traced in
the sacred record and explained in few words, Cain claimed
to be a religious man, and a worshipper of God. He
brought a fruit offering to Jehovah in the act of worship ;
but he was not accepted. There was no acknowledgment
in his offering of his condition as a sinner. There was no
confession of sin ; he supposed himself to be all right, and
could not see why he should not be accepted. The Lord
reasoned with him, and kindly counselled him to bring a
right offering. He was assured that there was acceptance
for him ; .that if he brought the sin-offering like his brother,

EXPOSITION III. 27

he too would yet enjoy the Divine favour. The Lord in
effect brought him to this question — Wilt thou take My
way, or thine own? That was the point he had to consider,
and on which he had to decide. If thou wilt take My way,
then even yet all will be well. The appeal was made in
vain. Kind words failed. He would not hearken to God's
voice, but take his own way. That way began in unbelief
in rejecting God's method of salvation through the shedding
of blood. This act of rejecting God's method of acceptance
determined his subsequent course. He breaks his allegiance
from God, and deliberately "went out from the presence of
the Lord." All intercourse with God is nov/ foreclosed.
He says in effect — '* I have done with God, I do not want
to .say anything more to Him. I want to live without re-
ference to Him. I wish to act as I please, to run in my
own paths, and after my own desires ! God shall have
nothing to do with me, and I will have nothing to do with
Him." This was Cain's way. We cannot conceive of any-
thing worse than this. He lived without God.

Cain now goes his oivn way, does what is right in his own
eyes, o.nd what in his view is most conducive to his own
enjoyment without God. He soon began to build a city or
"fort," in defence of himself and the partner of his exile,
and called it by the name of his first-born Enoch, which
means " dedicated." He dedicated his child to the world,
and the city which he built was a memorial of the dedica-
tion. He was a man of the world, and had nothing but
this world to live for. The world was his all, and he
resolved to make the best of it. He seeks in the midst of
his family to gather around sources of interest and luxury,
and tries to blot out the results of the curse, and to live an
easy, prosperous life in forgetfulness of God.

The " way of Cain " still exists. It has not been ploughed

up so as to become imperceptible. It is still visible, and

never perhaps so popular as in the present day. There are

a large class of men who neither deny the existence of God,

lor refuse to worship Him. They claim to be religious,

28 JUDL'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACV.

they put themselves down as a part of the rehyious world,
but who, like Cain, refuse to confess that they are sinners.
They will not allow that they need the blood of atonement
as the ground of their confidence. In their pride and self-
sufficiency, they ignore the truth that without the shedding
of blood there is no remission, no approach to God, no
acceptable worship. Their religion is fashionable, and suits
this refined and intellectual age. They leave the past, and
get rid of the trammels of old creeds, and the brutalizing
influence of altars besmeared with blood. If ever a qualm
of conscience does arise through the memory of the past,
they strangle it at once by some new mode of dissipation.
They seek their pleasures away from God. They set them-
selves to live for the present, spending their energies to
make this world an agreeable and pleasant place of residence.

Vvill this Cain-religion, which rejects the blood of the
Cross, lead men to love, and gentleness, and brotherly kind-
ness? Will a religion which trusts in no blood make a
happy people, and bring in the reign of peace and gladness?
So say its exuhing votaries. So say the teachers of the
philosophic theology of the period. So say the poets of the
age. Look at the type which is here held up as a standing
beacon to warn. Cain rejected the expiatory blood, turning
away from the " religion of the shambles " to the mild
gentleness of a worship in which no life is taken, and no
blood was spilt, and no suffering inflicted. Did this miid
and genial religion of his lead to a loving gentle life ? No.
He who had so many scruples about shedding the blood of
an innocent lamb, has none about taking the life of a holy
unoffending brother. He who is too pure and refined in
his ideas of religion to profane his altar by turning it into
"shambles," is all the v,'hile busied in preparing shambles
of his own, where, for the gratification of malice, hatred,
envy, and revenge, and every hellish passion, he may with
his own hand butcher a brother for being more righteous
than he.

" Woe unto them ! for they have gone in the way of

EXPOS/TJON ///. 29

Cain." The way ofCain is the straight way to remediless
misery ; there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof is death. Oh, reader, pause for a moment.
Ask yourself the fjucstion. Am I going on in Cain's way?
And if your eyes are opened to discern the bitttr end,
return, I pray you, unto the Lord, rely for acceptance on
the blood of atonement ere it be too late.

Let us now turn from Cain and his way, to consider —
(2.) The crroj- of Balaam. They " ran greedily after the
error of Balaam for reward." What was that error? We
may learn in what it consisted from the history iMoses gives
of Balaam in Numb. >;.xii. It is very clear from the history
that Balaam was a mm that wanted to serve Cod, and at
the same time suit his own covetousness. He wished to
please God, whom he feared, and to please himself too.
He tried to persuade himself that this could be done. This
vas his great error and sin. He v/as once a true prophet,
and one known to have had power with God. r-alak,' the
king of Moab, put confidence in him as a prophet, an 1
through fear of Israel sent a message to him to come and
curse Israel, and promised if he would do so to reward him
with silver and gold (Numb. xxii. 5, 6). If Balaam's heart
had been right uith God, he would have made short work
with Balak's message : indeed, it would not have cost him a
moment's consideration to have sent him a reply. But his
heart was not right ; we see him in the condition of one acted
upon by conflicting feelings. He wished to please Balak,
and get his reward, at the same time not to offend God.
He inwardly wished to stand well with Balak. while out-
wardly he wished to keep right with God. He bids the
messengers to remain, that he might have time to consult
the will of God. He received an answer; God said to him,
'• Thou shalt not go with tlie men ; thou shalt not curse the
P'cople ; for they are blessed.'' Nothing could be plainer.
The p.ophet evidently took this in bad part. Mark his
answer to the messengers — "Get }ou into )-our lar.d ; for
the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you " (ver. 13).

30 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

The word " refuseth '' showed the spirit which animated
him. He v/ished to go, and was disai)pointed.

Balak sends a second time to Balaam some of his best
men-messengers more honourable than the first, praying him
to come and curse Israel, and holds out before him a greater
reward, richer gifts, a more splendid bribe. The prophet
professed to despise the tempting bait, and said, " If Balak
would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go
beyond the v/ord of the Lord my God, to do less or more "
(ver. 1 8). It is no uncommon thing to hear a man speak
slightingly of that on which his heart is set. Many a miser
says that he does not care at all about money ; many a
proud-hearted man will speak of himself as being humble.
So Balaam could speak of himself as despising wealth, while
in his heart he longed for it. In this state of heart, Balaam
consults God again, and God answers, not as formerly by
refusing his request, but by telling him that he may go.
•' If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them,
but yet the word that I shall say to thee that thou shalt
do" (ver. 20). No doubt Balaam was delighted. God had
answered hin'i according to the desire of his heart. To the
froward God shows Himself frov/ard. Man wishes some-
thing, he is bent upon having it. God says you shall have
it, while angry because it is cherished. He permits a man
to have his perverse will gratified, to follow his blind devices.
There are ten thousand instances on every side of us. A
man hankers after money or fam.e. God grants it. He
punishes him by telling him to have his wish. So Balaam
eager to carry out his desire, anxious to gain the rewards,
is told to go. He was so eager to go that he did not wait
for the men to call him. He started off without. All this
showed a heart running counter to the will of God — a heart
bent on covetousness, while struggling all the time to keep
appearances of obedience. This is hateful. No wonder
God v/as angry with him. He had not proceeded far before
he found obstructions in his way — the ass on which he rode
rebuked him for his perverseness and folly (2 Peter ii. 15,

EXPOSITION III. 31

16). Still, he breaks through all difficulties; proceeds on
his journey, until he at length comes to Balak, who conducts
the money-loving prophet from place to place, in the hope
that he would curse Israel ; but all his attempts failed. He
could not articulate a word against the will of Jehovah. He
could not use the prophetical gift against Israel. He blesses
those whom he is hired to curse. The king smites his
hands together in sore disappointment, dismisses the prophet
in wrath, and returns to his palace in despair.

What is the son of Beor now to do ? Disappointed of
the coveted wealth, he now sinks into the degraded cha-
racter of a traitor. Seeing he could not turn God from
Israel, he now seeks to turn Israel from God. He privately
counselled the king of Moab to seduce the people of Israel
into fornication and idolatry by means of the Moabite
women. His wicked scheme succeeded. " Behold these
(women) caused the children of Israel through ih( counsel of
.Balaam, to conunit trespass against the Lord, in the matter
of Peor" (Numb. xxxi. 16). The fierce anger of the Lord
was kindled, and tens of thousands perished. The Lord
told Moses to avenge the children of Israel of the Midian-
ites. They warred against the Midianites, as the Lord
commanded Moses, and slew the kings of Midian. " Balaam
also, the son of Beor, iliey slciv with the sword" (Numb,
xxxi. 8). This was the closing scene of Balaam's down-
ward history.

The sad history of Balaam brings out very clearly the
nature of his deadly error. We know precisely what it is.
It is obviously composed of two parts. The first part
consists in his covetousness. It was his sin, and proved his
downfall. In the early part of his career he was doubtless
a good man, thoroughly religious, a man of prayer. On
two occasions he spent the night in prayer, v/aiting upon
God ; but he was tempted by the offer of Balak to prostitute
his sacred character and office for filthy lucre. He yielded
to the temptation, and stands before us as a type of
apostates in Jude's time. They "ran-," says Jude, "greedily

32 JUDE\S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

after the error of Balaani for reward." They have, says
Peter, " forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, follow-
ing the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness " (2 Peter ii. 14, 16). The love of
money is presented by Paul as the ground of apostacy.
" But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men
in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, they
have pierced themselves through v/ith many sorrows "
(i Tim. vi. 9, ic). It needs no seer's eye to be assured
that this sin is doing its deadly work in the present day.
Imitators of Balaam abound. Men that are recognized as
Christian teachers in the Church are ready to please the
great of the earth for the love of the wealth which they have
to bestow. In the last days perilous times sliall come, for
men shall be lovers of their own selves (selfish), covetous.
Let us guard against the temptations to covetousness, and
resist them.

The second part o{ Jiis error is seen in Ids teaching. Pie
knew that Israel were God's chosen people — singled out
and se|)arated from other nations. "Phis separation is most
distinctly set forth, "The people shall dwell alone, and shall
not be reckoned among the nations" (Numb, xxiii. 9).
But this hireling prophet taught Balak to seduce Israel from
their sep.aration into guilty mixture with the nations and
their idolatry around. The teaching of Balaam destroyed
all godly separateness, and destroyed the people too, so far
as it prevailed. In like manner the Church of Christ is
called out from the world, and it is only too ea.sy to apply
the type in this case. Memorable and instructive are the
words to the Church in Pergamos, ''Thou hast there them
that liold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast
a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, and to eat
things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication "
(Rev. ii. 14). These Balaam teachers sought to corrupt
the disciples of Christ by tempting them to form unholy

EXPOSITIOIV ///. 23

alliances with the world, by insinuating that Christianity
may exist consistently with the indulgence of the flesh, even
to the commission of the most awful sins. These corrupters
were allowed still to remain members of the Church, and
were considered as part of the Church. "I'hou hast there"
within thee, those who hold this wicked doctrine. They
were tolerated, they were not frowned upon, suspended from
privileges, nor excommunicated. These teachers still exist
in the Church, and they continue to influence and fascinate
by their teaching the hearts of the people of God. They
teach that you must not maintain the rigid line of separation,
that you must be on good terms with the world. You must
seek to please the world, how else will you do it good.
This artful and plausible teaching is ruining thousands. It
encourages the intermixture of the Church with the world,
which must end in trouble, conflict, and judgment.

(3.) Korah and his punislwient. Our serious attention is
directed in few words to another way — the gainsaying of
Korah, and its disastrous consequences. "And perished in
the gainsaying of Korah." The word gainsaying in the
Greek is uvr<\o7ta, and means contention, opposition, contra*
diction. The verbal antagonism of Korah and his brethren
to Moses and Aaron is recorded in the sixteenth chapter of
Numbers, for our admonition and instruction. " Now Korah
the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and
Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of
Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men ; and they rose up before
Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two
hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, fam.ous in the
congregation, men of renown ; and they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto
them. Ye take too n-iuch upon you, seeing all the congre=
gation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among
them : wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the con-
gregation of the Lord?" Here we are plainly told that
Korah and his famous men, two hundred and fifty in
number, set themselves against Moses and Aaron, and

D

• 34 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF A POST AC Y.

charged them with usurpation and ambition in taking too
much upon them. You take too much upon you in daring
to represent us ; we can represent ourselves. Are not all
the Lord's people alike holy, and have we not as good a
right to officiate in the priest's office as Aaron and his sons.
They considered themselves to be equally entitled and
equally suited to discharge the functions of the priestly office.
In short, there was an open revolt against the authority of
Moses, and against the priesthood of Aaron and against
God Himself.

" And Moses said unto Korah," — the leader of this des-
perate confederacy — " Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi :
seemeth it a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel
hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring
you near to Himself; to do the service of the tabernacle of
the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister
unto them ? And He hath brought thee near to Him, and
all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee ; ajid seek ye the
priesthood also ? For which cause {i.e., the priesthood) both
thou and all thy company are gathered together against the
Lord : and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him ? "
(Numb. xvi. 8-11).

The gainsaying of these men was speedily visited with
Divine wrath. The very record is appalling to read. What
must the fact have been. " The earth opened her mouth,
and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men
that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. So they
and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the
pit, and the earth closed upon them ; and they perished
from among the assembly " (xvi. 31-34). After the earth had
opened her mouth and swallowed them up, we read, " There
came 3. fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred
and fifty men that had offered incense " ^ (ver. 35). We see

^ The rebellion and judgment of Korah and his brethren in the wil-
derness is beyond doubt a type of the open rebellion of apostate
Christendom against the authorily of God in His true King and I'riest,
at the end of this age, and also of the terrible judgments that will
speedily follow. "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the

EXPOSITION HI. 35

in this that fiery indignation which devours the adversaries
of the Lord. Let us remember that Korah is a type of those
restless subtle men in the early churches who were ambitious
for high places, who sought to undermine the true servants
of God in order to exalt themselves. Li these modern days
there are men who are not satisfied with the functions of
the ministry, but openly set themselves against the rights
of Christ. They call themselves priests, in contrast with
the people, distinguished by titles and dress from
others. They profess to act on behalf of others, assuming
priestly functions which only belong to Christ Himself. This
is in principle the sin of Korah, their end will be according
to their works.

These are types of the apostacies and heresies which
would arise in future times. In the way of Cain we see
departure from God ; in Balaam, who taught error for the
sake of gain, religious corruption ; in the gainsaying of
Korah, ambition and insubordination, which bring swift
destruction. In these three examples we see the future in
miniature.

Note how, in the verses following the description of
the apostates corresponding to the three examples just given,
they are described in the strongest language, and by the
use of many striking similitudes. " These are spots in your
feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding them-

Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings "
(Rev. xvii. 14). " And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and
their armies gathered together to make war against Him that sat on
the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with
him the false prophet, that wrought miracles before him, with which he
deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and them that wor-
shipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake burning with
brimstone " (Rev. xix. 19, 20).

Bishop Home remarks,—" The sudden destruction of Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram, who, for stirring up a rebellion against Moses and Aaron|
' went down alive into the pit,' seems to be here (Rev. xix. 20) alluded
to, as the grand representation of the manner in which the ' bottomless
pit' shall one day shut its mouth for ever upon all the impenitent
enemies of the true King of Israel and great High Priest of our pro-
fession." '^

36 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

selves without fear." In the primitive days of Christianity
behevers met together in private houses for communion and
mutual edification. Love-feasts were held to promote unity,
to testify, continue and increase brotherly love among them-
selves. The love-feasts and the Lord's supper were separate
ordinances, but frequently combined. These evil and subtle
men came into these love-feast meetings. They were no doubt
pretentious, forward, and active in the assembly of the
faithful. They were spots, blemishes, in these feasts ; for,
instead of eating and drinking in moderation, they pampered
their appetite and ate to excess, without the least sense of
their own sin and shame. This is implied in the clause,
" feeding themselves without fear." In this way those feasts
of charity were abused ; and in the middle of the fourth
century, the Council of Laodicea prohibited them to be held
in the churches. " Clouds they are without water." Like
clouds which promise rain, but contain no water, and let
fall no fertilizing showers : empty of all saving knowledge
and true holiness, they can impart no refreshment to their
flocks by their teaching.

" Trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead,
plucked up by the roots." Trees without fruit, though in
spring there may have been buds of promise, but in autumn
without fruit. "Twice dead." Dead in trespasses and sin,
which they are by nature, and dead by apostacy from the
faith in Christ, past all hope of recovery. Like trees irre«
coverably and totally dead, being "plucked up by the roots."

"Raging waves of the sea," turbulent and violent against
all who oppose them, "foaming out their shame." "Wan-
dering stars," which have left their original position, and are
unsteady and erratic in their course. They who leave the
truth know not where they shall stop, " to whom is reserved
the blackness of darkness for ever." As heaven is an
inheritance reserved for the faithful, so this thick gross
darkness is reserved as the certain heritage of these deceivers
lor ever.

37

EXPOSITION IV.

Enoch' s prophecy of the coming of the Lord to (x(cute vengeance
up07i the ungodly.

"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied oi these,
saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to
execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among
them of alf their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed,
and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken
against him." — Verses 14, 15,

THE sacred narrative of Enoch's life is sweet and simple.
In Genesis we read that " Enoch walked with God, and
he was not, for God took him." In the Epistle to the
Hebrews it is said, that " before his translation he had this
testimony, that he pleased God." In this Epistle Jude has
given us Enoch's prophecy. It is not found anywhere else
in Scripture. How Jude came by it we know not, whether
he read it in an old book now lost, or through tradition, is
not known ; nor need we be curious to know, it is enough
for us to know that it is here inserted under the sanction and
authority of the Holy Ghost as the inspired prophecy of
Enoch.

It strikes us as very remarkable that Jude, before the
canon of Holy Scripture was closed — there being only one
other book to be written — should be moved by the Divine
Spirit, to preserve for the Church the prophecy of Enoch in
the ark of the recognised canonical books. Enoch is said
to be the seventh from Adam. This number is very sug-
gestive. It marked the age in which Enoch lived. As
Enoch was the seventh in his descent from Adam, he is
considered by some to be a type of those who will not sleep
the sleep of death, but will undergo a change as foretold by
Paul (i Cor. XV. 51). It was therefore very appropriate that

38 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

Enoch should prophesy of our Lord's coming to judge the
ungodly, and commence the millennial era — the seventh
period of the world's history.

The coming of Christ, in that early age, was foretold in two
aspects — as a Sufferer^ and as a Judge. The first coming
was foretold to Adam. The seed of the woman was to
suffer — his heel was to be bruised as the means of bruising
the serpent's head, and of saving the fallen. This one
promise was the ground of hope to Adam, to Abel, to Seth,
and to the pious men in the line of Seth. How far this word
of promise was understood by them we know not. It
doubtless formed the subject of their conversation, and
ministered comfort to them in those dark days amidst
surrounding vice and ungodliness. Christ then was the hope
and consolation of His people ; they rested on the promise,
and died in faith. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, pro-
phesied concerning the second coming of the Lord as
Judge. After six patriarchal heads had dwelt on the first
coming as taught in the seed of the woman bruising the
serpent's head : the seventh — the completing one — tells of
His second coming with His saints to execute His fiery
vengeance on the ungodly. This and similar prophecies
claim our serious and thoughtful consideration.

Note I. The great event announced, afid a?inounced as
with a trumpefs voice. — " Behold, the Lord cometh ! " These
are solemn words calculated to awaken attention. The
prophets often proclaimed His coming. Loud and often has
the trumpet peal gone forth — " Behold, the Lord cometh ! "
The coming is certain, and is spoken of as nigh at hand. If
Enoch in his time said the Lord cometh, we may say with
more solemn emphasis in these last times, The Lord cometh !
He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. The
coming draweth nigh. Yes, whether we consider it or not,
it will and does draw nigh. The Judge is on His way.
Every setting sun takes a day from the world's duration.
The portion of the wicked is so much less, and the time of
their punishment so much approached. The Lord cometh.

EXPOSITION IV. 39

and His reward is with Him, to give to every one according
as his work shall be.

But though the coming of the Lord is announced as in
trumpet tones, it fails to awaken men out of their lethargy.
The men of the world ignore the coming of the Lord, and
its momentous consequences. They laugh at it, and would
feign laugh down the people who are simple enough to
beheve it. They dispute it, and raise the scofifing cry, —
"Where is the promise of His coming?" They can see no
signs of its arrival. It is all a threat, a boast, a fable. There
are even professing Christians who would rather not hear
about it, and who if they could have their way, would erase
it from their creed and silence ail preaching concerning it.
They do not indeed mock with the mockers, but they say in
their hearts, " My Lord delayeth His coming." They will
not give attention to it. They are careless and unconcerned.
It is just when men are saying peace and safety, putting
away the thought of the Lord's arrival, it is just then that He
breaks in upon them as a thief in the night. So that the
very fact that there are few who believe in the nearness of
the Advent, is just the fact that should arouse and quicken
and alarm. For in an hour we think not the Son of Man
Cometh.

Note II. That Enoch foresaw how and in what manner
the Lord would come— not by Himself alone, but attended
'' with ten thousands of His saints T There are two distinct
stages of the Lord's com.ing. In the first. He comes to
awaken the sleeping saints, and to change the living ones.
This is spoken of in i Thess. iv. The saints must be
gathered to him, before they can come with him. They
must iirst ascend, before they descend. Between these two
stages it is certain that an interval of time will occur, but of
its duration we can make no positive assertion. After this
interval of time, will follow the second stage of Christ's
visible coming, clothed in majesty and power. It will indeed
be the time of manifestation both to Him and His people ;
'•' When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we

40 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACV.

also appear with Him in glory." Enoch was the first of the
holy prophets to tell us of the manner of His coming;
'' Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints."
He is sometimes spoken of as coming in the clouds. " I
saw," said Daniel, "in the night visions, and behold, one like
the Son of Man, came with the clouds of heaven " (Dan. vii.
13). When our Lord stood before the High Priest, He
said, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the
right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven "
(Matt, xxvi, 64). There are passages which speak of the
holy angels as His attendants, "The Son of Man shall come
in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels"
(Luke ix. 26). Sometimes they are called mighty angels.
The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His
mighty angels" (2 Thess. i. 7). There are other passages
which speak of the Lord's coming with all His saints. The
prophet Zechariah said, " The Lord ray God shall come, and
^7// the saints with thee" (Zech. xiv. 5). Myriads of saints
as well as angels shall appear with Him in glory.

" Lo ! He comes with clouds descending,

Once for favoured sinners slain ;

Thousand, thousand saints attending,

Swell the triumph of His train."

Yes, a vast number of saints and angels will attend His
coming. The eye of faith sees Him coming, not in
humiliation, weakness, and sorrow as before, but in over-
whelming majesty, power, and glory, coming to be glorified
in His saints, and admired in all them that believe. May
the mind and heart of the reader be impressed with the
Apostle's pregnant word, "Maranatha!" '■^ The Lord
coinethr

We come now to note,

HL The purpose of the Lord's coming ivith His saints to
the earth. He comes as stated in the words of this prophecy —
"to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are
ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they
have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches

EXPOSITION IV. 41

which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." The time
in which Enoch prophesied should not be overlooked. It
was a time of abounding iniquity, of blasphemy, and open
denial of God. Ungodliness prevailed in speech and deed.
It may be reasonably supposed that this prophecy had
reference to the flood then impending. The ungodly sinners
of that age were fairly warned of coming judgment. After
Enoch was translated the judgment overtook them. The
flood came and took them all away. The ungodly in his
own times against whom he had to contend were types and
representatives of the ungodly in the times immediately
preceding the Lord's second coming. Now it was " of these,'^
or '■'• concerning these,^' as Jude expressly tells us, that Enoch
prophesied.

There are other prophecies beside Enoch's, that speak of
the Lord's coming to exercise judgment upon the ungodly,
and to root them out of the earth. Oh, that men would
hear and carefully ponder them. Listen to the words of
Isaiah, " Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish
the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity " (Isa. xxvi. 21),
Again, " Behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His
chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and
His rebuke with flames of fire" (Ixvi. 15). Similar prophecies
are found in Joel ii. 1-3, and in Malachi iv. i. In the New
Testament we have the testimony of the Lord Himself, " As
the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son
of Man be" (Matt. xxiv. 37). "Likewise also as it was in
the days of Lot ; they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they builded, but the same day that Lot went out
of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when
the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke xvii. 28-30). In the
parable of the nobleman, the Son of Man is represented as
going into a far country to receive a kingdom, and on his
return he saith, "But those mine enemies who would not
that I should reign over them, bring them hither and slay
them before me" (Luke xix. 17). How clearly Paul states

42 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

the purpose of the Lord's coming, "The Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. i. 7, 8). In
accordance v/ith this is the vision of John, " Behold, He
cometh in clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also
which pierced Him ; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail
because of Him " (Rev. i. 7). Thus He who came to preach
the day of salvation, cometh again to proclaim the day of
vengeance. He who was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
will lead His ten thousand to the prey as the lion of the
tribe of Judah. In view of the terrors of that day we may
join in asking, "Who shall abide the day of His coming?
Who shall stand when He appeareth? In that day the
loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness
of man shall be made low." In that day men will quail
before the brightness of that face they have so long despised,
and will call upon the rocks and the mountains, or aught
else conceivable, to hide them from the face of Him that
sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.

The world is rapidly ripening for judgment. Ungodliness
is the special feature of the age, and one of the many signs
of its close. Ungodly men abound — men who make a mock
at prophecy and prophetic expositors, who treat the Lord's
coming with hardihood and derision. Their language is,
" Let Him make speed, and hasten His work, that we may
see it ; and let the counsel of the Holy One draw nigh and
come, that we may know it" (Isa. v. 19). They will
ridicule the doctrine and brave His wrath. Whether it is
believed or not, the Lord is at hand, to pass judgment upon
these mockers, to confute these gainsayers, and to execute
upon them deserved wrath. Their own consciences will bear
witness against them, and condemn them, so that they will
stand self-condemned before the Lord. Likewise "their
hard speeches," and malicious opposition against Him, and
against His people, will rise up against them, for if we shall
have to give account for " every idle word," much more for

EXPOSITION IV. 43

wicked and malicious words. Alas ! how many thousands,
nay, millions of persons of these latter days fall into this
judgment and righteous condemnation.

Oh, reader, whether saved or unsaved, ponder we pray
you this ancient prophecy of coming judgment. If saved by
personal faith in Christ, take heed lest you fall into the error
of saying in the heart, like the " evil servant," my Lord
delayeth His coming. Watch and pray, live and walk as
did Enoch, to please God, that you may be among the
blessed ones who will be taken to meet the Lord in the air,
and so be ever with the Lord. If unsaved — unprepared for
the coming of the Lord — if you are afraid, and feel that you
dare not face the Judge, do not, we beseech you, seek to
stifle your fear of coming judgment by dismissing it from
your mind. You may escape the awful judgments that will
be executed upon the ungodly. Now is your day of grace
and mercy. Now repentance and remission of sins are
preached in the Saviour's name ; now He receives and
pardons the greatest sinners that come to Him. But oh,
beware lest the Lord Jesus come before you have really
believed in Him to the saving of the soul ; for when He
comes again, it will be too late for repentance and salvation.
Because there is wrath, beware, lest He take thee away with
His stroke. Again, we say, Beware, lest that come upon
you which is spoken of in the prophets, " Behold, ye
despisers, and wonder, and perish ! "

44

EXPOSITION V.

A fiirt/ier description of tlie characteristics of the ungodly,

" These are niurmurers, complainers, walking after tlieir own lusts ;
and their mouth spcaketh great swelling words, having men's persons
in admiration because of advantage. But, beloved, remember ye the
words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus
Christ ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last
time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they
who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit." — Vers. 16-19.

w

E have already seen on whom vengeance will be
executed at the Lord's coming. They are the
ungodly. Enoch prophesied of these, of their ungodly
speeches and ungodly deeds. The verses that follow, and
which now claim our attention, refer to the same characters,
and give other views and aspects of their ungodliness.
Let us then take a brief glance at what is said of them.

I. They are said to be mnrniurers and complainers.
" These are murmurers, complainers." Such characters
have appeared in the hoary past. Many of the children of
Israel in the wilderness doubted God's love in bringing
them out of Egypt. They disbelieved His intention to give
them the land promised to their fathers ; they distrusted
Moses as their guide ; they broke out in murmuring words
against God and His servant Moses. So in the days of
Christ there were murmurers. "There was much mur-
muring among the people concerning Him." " The Jews
murmured at Him, because he said, I am the bread which
came down from heaven." "The scribes and Pharisees
murmured against the disciples, saying. Why do ye eat and
drink with publicans and sinners." So in the apostles'
days, the murmuring spirit showed itself in the churches.
" Do all things without murmurings and disputings."

EXPOSITION V. 45

" Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured."
These murmurevs spoken of in the wilderness in the time of
Christ, and in the early churches, seem to us as historic
types of the murmurers of these last days. They are fore-
told in a variety of places by the prophets. They are said
to "speak grievous things, and proudly and contemptuously
against the righteous" (Psalm xxxi. i8). Such persons are
never pleased with anything. They find fault with every-
body, and are dissatisfied with everything. They complain
of their condition in life, finding fault with God and His
providential dealings ; making and governing worlds in their
own ways, persons whom neither God nor man can please.

And is not this the spirit of our so-called enlightened age ?
Is it not true that these murmurers and complainers abound
in our day ? Many of our popular orators complain against
the circumstances and condition of certain classes in this
country, and insist that they are a people kept down by
tyranny and oppression. Is not this statement borne out by
the spirit and tone of most of the journals of the day ? This
dissatisfaction, this spirit of discontent comes out in various
ways, Nov/ it is an assault upon aristocracy, now a crusade
against the rich, now men are for dividing the land amongst
the people. Now they are for changing the rulers and
ministers of the government. The rights of the people, the
wrongs of the people, are echoed and re-echoed everywhere.
The very air seems infected with the spirit of discontent.

It may be said that there have been murmurers, com-
plainers in all ages ; that is true. Still, the inspired men of
old direct our attention to this sin of murmuring as a
special feature in society at this stage of the v/orld's history,
and as one of the signs of the end.

2. These murmurers are charged v/ith the sin of sensual
indulgence. " Walking after their own lusts." There is in
connection with the state of discontent, indulgence of their
own lusts. What are they ? The love of the world, the
love of fame, the love of power and vain glory. These and
such like are among the deceitful lusts of the flesh. They

46 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

take pleasure in them, pursue them, serve them, and fulfil
them. Their own lusts ; they are inbred. They come from
the bad soil of the human heart. Their own ; they harbour
them, lodge them, and give them heart-room. Their own
lusts, as they are practically given to them, live in them and
walk after them. Their own lusts in a special sense, as they
are under their power, obey them willingly, and are the
cravings and desires they are most addicted to.

3. These men are given to boast of themselves. " Their
mouth speaketh great swelling words." They are proud,
self-conceited persons. They think highly of their own
opinions, and know everything better than anyone else.
They speak in a haughty manner of their independence and
liberty, and affirm that they are free to gratify their own
inclinations without control. In these days it cannot be
denied that there are a large class of men who take a pride
in showing a lawless and rebellious spirit. They claim the
right to indulge any lusts of the flesh they may please.
They cannot brook restraint, civil or religious. They are
aroused to anger and resentment if anybody thwarts them
in the fulfilment of their carnal amusements and pleasures.
"iThey set their mouth against the heavens," disregard God's
word, follow their own notions, and pursue their own
thoughts.

4. They are ready to fawn and flatter others. "Having
men's persons in admiration, because of advantage." Thus
we may see in the same persons a spirit of boasting allied
to a spirit of fawning upon those who are the favourites and
leaders of their party. We see this spirit engendered in
persons who form part of religious congregations. Favourite
ministers may be idolized, and all they say received as pure
truth though opposed to the word of God. The former
they admire, the latter they do not respect. This servile
class may include in it ministers who can fawn and flatter
the rich, and overlook their faults in order to gain advantage
by them. These are truly pitiable characters. There is,
however, a respect due to persons which we are bound to

EXPOSITION V. 47

pay. An admiration even that is allowed. Ministers ol
Christ are to be "honoured as instruments, not adored as
deities." Our earthly parents are to be honoured and
obeyed because our heavenly Father enjoins it. Elders in
the church who rule well are to be counted worthy of
double honour. We are bound in all justice to prefer
some men before others for their age, real excellencies, and
relation to us.

The admiration here condemned is to say the least excessive
and insincere, if not hollow and hypocritical. It is when we
praise the endowments and qualifications of great men for
advantage. It is to admire unduly their bodily appearance,
their outward condition. And thus I take it, that Jude in
this place, accuses these servile seducers for their excessive
sinful flattery of men in eminence, in wealth, in power^ and
outward glory, for their own gain and advantage.

48

EXPOSITION VI.

Memorable Words.

SAINT JUDE now appeals to the faithful to remember the
words of the holy apostles in reference to these despe-
rate characters.

" But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before
of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ; how that they told you
there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their
own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual,
not having the Spirit." — Vers. 17-19.

Learn ist^ That the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ
concur in their testimony of the apostacy of these times. The
warnings and encouragement of the saints in these days
would be incomplete, if confined to this solitary Epistle.
But we have the concurrent testimony of Christ and his
apostles concerning these days, showing that nothing is
occurring unforeseen. "When the Son of Man cometh
shall he find faith on the earth" (Luke xviii. 8)? This is
a strong inrplication of a widespread apostacy impending
(see Romans xvi. 17, 18). Paul in writing to Timothy says,
"The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from, the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of demons" (i Tim, iv. i). And,
further, " This knotv," said he, speaking prophetically, "that
in the last days perilous times shall come." Giving the moral
characteristics of the times, self-love, covetous, proud, self-
willed, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ; having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. The
Apostle Peter gives a similar testimony : " This second
epistle, beloved, I now write unto you ; in both which
I stir up your pure minds in rernembranee ] that ye may be
mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy

EXPOSITION VI. 4g

jjrophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of
the Lord and Saviour ; knowing this first, that there shall
come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts "
(2 Peter iii. 1-3). The Apostle John, in his first Epistle,
reminds us of what Paul had said of the coming of Anti-
Christ : " Ye have heai-d that Antichrist shall come " (ch.
ii. 18). Jude here refers to the same subject, and speaks
of murmurers walking in ungodly lusts, separatists, sensual,
unspiritual. Thus the Apostles Paul, Peter, James, John,
Jude, all speak of the last days as evil times, all foretell
apostacy which is only extirpated by judgment.

2nd. The words of warning spoken by the apostles in
reference to these last times should be frequently present to
the mind. They claim our reverent attention. "Remem-
ber ! " This gentle monition is needful. We are apt to be
forgetful of what the Holy Spirit has said of the mockers
who will pursue their ungodly lusts and pleasures up to the
very hour of judgment. Remember ! Be concerned to
have right views of the apostacy, and of the close of this
dispensation. " Remember ye the words which have been
spoken before of the apostles," when you hear from the
pulpit and the platform of the gradual renovation of man-
kind by scientific, moral, or even scriptural means. Re-
member ! When you hear men of advanced thought boast
of the age in which we live as the most glorious and hopeful
ever known. Remember ! Don't be misled by such boast-
ing. The words spoken by holy men of God lead us to
expect a different state of things. What ! says the social
reformer, with a little ill-humour, would you have us believe
that the world is not progressing ? Look at the triumphs
of civilisation, the refinements of art, the provisions for
comfort \ listen to the cry for education ; watch the spread
of knowledge. These are improvements that cannot be
gainsaid. We admit all this. But let us not conceal from
ourselves this truth, that the improvement of the world is
superficial, not real ; that is to say, not inherent, or neces-
sarily lasting. If we rest our hopes of the final triumph of

E

50 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

goodness, truth, and righteousness on what man can do, on
popular theories of education, poHtics, and legislation, we
must sooner or later be bitterly disappointed. Remember
ye the words of warning given by the inspired apostles !
Read, study them for yourselves, for by so doing you will
be best prepared to form an enlightened judgment of the
character and close of this dispensation. You will be kept
from entertaining fallacious hopes of the world getting better,
and from false applications of promises of blessedness to
the present age, which refer to, and will be fulfilled in the
millennial period. Remember the words of the apostles of
our Lord, how they told you there should be mockers, or
scoffers, in the last time, who should walk after their own
ungodly lusts. " These be they," says the Spirit of truth,
" who separate themselves, sensual, not having the Spirit."

51

EXPOSITION VII.

TJic duty of believers to establish themselves in the faith.

WE have felt it to be no pleasant task to dwell upon the
sad picture presented in this Epistle of the character
and doom of those who depart from the faith. Hideous as
the picture is, we dare not modify or alter any of its dark
features. It would be dishonest to do so. I'he picture is
given that we may take warning, and not be disturbed in
our faith, when we witness even in the Church such cha-
racters as correspond to those here portrayed. It is now a
relief and a pleasure to turn from the subject of apostacy to
consider the needful and practical exhortation addressed by
Jude to believers,

" But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking
for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." — Vers. 20, 21.

In this exhortation St. Jude breathes a tender concern for
believers in his, and in all time. Thrice in this short
Epistle he calls them " Beloved." This precious appellation
shows the Apostle's interest in them. He congratulates
them, as the " beloved in God the Father, and the preserved
in Christ ; " and contrasts their blessed state with that of
others who were sensual, having not the Spirit. But he saw
they were in circumstances of great danger. Various errors
encompassed them about, and it was particularly needful to
put them on their guard. Certain men had crept in
stealthily among them, and began to sow their bad seed.
The Apostle also saw that the evil which crept into the
Church in his day would work on and on, and finally unfold
itself in all the terrible forms of apostacy in the last days.
The practical exhortation, therefore, addressed to the beloved

52 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

then, is of the deepest importance noiv. In this exhortation
four things are earnestly enjoined, viz. : Mutual edification ;
praying in the Holy Ghost ; preservation in the love of
God ; and looking expectantly for the mercy of the Lord
Tesus unto eternal life. Such are the special duties and
exercises incumbent upon us in these times.

I. Mutual edificatio7i : " Building up yourselves on your
most holy faith." This naturally leads us to speak of the
foundation of the building, and then the building itself.

(i.) The foundation. The spiritual edifice to be reared
must rest on something — it must have a basis. The basis is
" our most holy faith." By faith here we understand, not
the grace, or act of faith, but the word of faith — the word to
be believed. The Gospel is called the faith, because it re-
veals the doctrines of faith, the truths to be believed to
salvation, and more particularly the doctrine of faith in
Christ. Christ Jesus is the primary object of faith — the
sure, elect, and precious foundation-stone. To Him we
must cleave, and on Him alone we must build. As we rest
upon a man by trusting to his word, so we must build upon
Christ by hearing, receiving, and believing His words. " He
that heareth My words," said He, "and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a wise man that built his house upon a rock."
As wise men we must build ourselves up, not on sand, not
on human traditions, or formulated creeds, or the wisdom
of men, but on those foundation truths and central facts of
our common Christianity which the Gospels and the Epistles
unfold. The Apostle Paul tells us what that faith is which
was delivered to him, and which he had made known to
others as the basis on which they may safely build for
eternity. " Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you, the
Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have re-
ceived, and wherein ye stand, and by which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless ye have believed in vain. For I declared unto you
first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was

EXPOSITION VII. 53

buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to
the Scriptures " (i Cor. xv. 1-4). " ^^^e thus judge, that if
one died for all, then were all dead ; and that He died for
all, that they -which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose
again" (2 Cor. v. 14, 15).

These are a few of the vital truths of the Gospel, and our
faith, our hope, our eternal salvation rests upon them.
" Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of
God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets ; Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner
stone" (Eph. ii. 19, 20). In the Apostle's touching address
to the Ephesians, as he was taking leave of them, he said,
" And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the
word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to
give you an inheritance among all them which are sancti-
fied " (Acts XX. 32). " The word of God's grace" is clearly
the word of faith, the foundation on which we must seek to
be firmly established, that we may be able to stand against
all the errors of the present day, and to build up a holy
character.

(2.) The foundation is holy in its nature and origin. It
is not only designated holy, but " most holy." It must be
so, as it proceeds from God, and is a manifestation of His
holiness and grace. The faith is the communication of
God's glorious thoughts to us. Its teachings received into
the heart are purifying in their operation, its precepts are
holy, its promises are holy, its ordinances are holy. The
great end and design of the faith is man's freedom from all
sin, and his restoration to God's holy image. It produces
holiness of life. It is indeed worthy to be called " most
holy faith," in contrast with the most unholy faiths of human
origin.

II. The building enjoined : " Build up yourselves." This
is work that can only be enjoined upon those who are in the
faith. Beloved, you are at once yourselves the builders and

54 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

the stones. You are warned to take heed how you build,
and to the kind of material used in the building. You
must see to it that the material corresponds with the foun-
dation. Your most holy faith, as we have seen, is the
precious basis ; on that you are called to rear up a holy
spiritual structure. It may be asked, how can Ave build up
ourselves ? Is not this building the work of the Spirit ?
Are we not His workmanship, builded together for a habi-
tation of God through the Spirit ? True we are, and un-
less the Spirit of God build this spiritual house, all labour
is vain. But then God builds by means. He depends
upon you doing your work. He requires your co-opera-
tion in raising this spiritual edifice. He says, " Build
yourselves up." This is what you are to do, and what you
can do by the aid of the Holy Spirit. Take firm hold of
the hving word, feed upon it daily, and it will sustain and
nourish the inner man, and you v.'ill thereby grow up in
truth and grace, in wisdom and strength, in purity and
goodness. You will slowly but surely unfold in your cha-
racter the beauties of holiness, qualities more valuable,
solid, and durable than gold, silver, or precious stones.

These words evidently set forth the responsibility of the
members of the Church of Christ to build up each other,
to help one another. I would earnestly impress upon your
minds the practical importance of this work. Is it not
true that you are called to be ministers to each other,
according to the measure of the gift of Christ ? While
you are concerned for your individual edification, improve-
ment, and progress in Divine things, you should be equally
concerned for that of your brethren. This is incumbent
upon you as living stones in the temple of the Lord. There
must be mutual service. "By love serve one another."
Mutual esteem : " in lowliness of mind let each esteem
other better than themselves." Mutual prayer : " praying
one for another." Mutual oversight: "looking diligently,"
that is, taking an oversight of each other, "lest any man
fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing

EXPOSITION I'll. 55

up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." Mutual
adnionition : "Teaching and admonishing one another."
Admonition may sound harsh in our ears ; we do not like
it ; but here the admonition, whether given or received, is
" in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in our hearts unto the Lord." Mutual edification :
" Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one
another, even as ye do." " Let us, therefore, follow after
things which make for peace, and things wherewith one
may edify another." Study the means, and take pains to
build each other up. The wisest and strongest in the Church
may be edified ; the weakest and most illiterate may edify.
As you are united together by one faith, and mutually
dependent, endeavour to instruct one another in the know-
ledge of Divine things, to improve each other in every good
and holy purpose, to establish each other in every Christian
principle and disposition, to strengthen each other for the
fulfilment of every duty, that each might be settled and
immovable in the faith and obedience of the Gospel. The
substance of the exhortation, is, endeavour to make one
another wise and strong, holy and happy. Build yourselves
up. Erect a holy superstructure on your most holy faith.
How is this holy work to be done ? It may be done—
(i.) By coining frequently together for prayei- and felloia-
ship one with another. It is in these social meetings we
may be the means of encouraging and strengthening each
other in the Lord, Men of different nations, and of widely
different habits of thought can associate together for the
advancement of science, and the cultivation of art ; and
shall we not gladly associate together for mutual spiritual
edification. It is said of God-fearing men in Malachi's
time — a time of religious declension — that " they spake
often one to another." It is said of those new converts who
were added to the Church on the day of Pentecost, that
" they continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and
fellowship : " that is, they continued to meet for fellowship
as a means of growth in strength and knowledge, in love

56 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

and holiness. They were much together for prayer and
communion ; watching over one another ; sustaining and
being sustained \ edifying and being edified ; blessing and
being blessed ; caring and being cared for. Christians now
as in bygone days must often meet together as the most
effectual means of fostering this active sympathy, this reci-
procal affection, this loving oneness of heart and soul. We
need each other's prayers, sympathies, and help. " Let us
consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works ;
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is ; but exhorting one another ; and so
much the more as ye see the day approaching."

(2.) This work of building up may be done 'by godly
i7itercourse and conversation with each other. Keep it in
view when you meet in the street, or in the familiar and
social circles of life. It is to be feared that the true interests
of the soul are often lost sight of at such times. There is
reserve and reticence on Divine things. We can talk of the
news and occurrences of the day. "\^^e can speak of busi-
ness and the state of trade. We can build each other up in
politics ; but we meet and part without a word of spiritual
counsel and encouragement. In your inter-communion
with each other, beware lest the enem)' should betray you
into conversation unbecoming the purity which ought to
mark the character of those who profess to be the temples
of the Holy Ghost. " Let no corrupt communication pro-
ceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." It
is not enough to avoid light talk, easy gossip, foolish jesting
that is unprofitable. "Let your speech be always with
grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how to answer
every man." In this way, you may mutually instruct and
edify one anothei-.

Oh, beloved, see to it, w^e beseech you, that you build up
yourselves individually and collectively. Be true and faith-
ful to the holy and happy relationship into which you have
entered. There is much need for this. We see on every

EXPOSITION I'll.

57

side departure from the truth. " The things which are
most surely behaved among us " are no longer unquestioned.
The foundations of our faith are secretly undermined by
some, and openly assailed by others. The poison of error
is at work in our churches, and even the "very elect" arc
in danger of being carried away by " false teachers." What,
then, is your duty in the present state of things? It is to
seek fresh supplies of grace from God, to study the teachings
of the Holy Spirit, that you may fortity yourselves against
the torrent of evil. Carry out this exhortation, and you
shall not waver like a wave of the sea, nor be driven by the
winds of false teaching, but remain settled and unshaken
like a house upon a rock.

It is worthy of note that Jude makes no reference to the
work of the Christian minister, ^^'e know it pleased the
Lord when He ascended up on high, to give pastors and
teachers, and to endow them with suitable gifts for the per-
fecting of the saints, and for the edifying of the body. Nor
has the Great Head of the Church ceased to give minis-
terial gifts to edify ; but the prophetic spirit of Jude saw
that the time would come when many in the ministry would
fail to teach the people knowledge, that their gifts would be
improperly directed, or perverted from their specific pur-
pose. He therefore exhorts believers at such times espe-
cially to fraternize and co-operate with each other. But ye,
beloved, building up yourselves, not on your doings and
feelings, but on the basis of your most holy faith. Building
is an upward growth, a progressive work ; it is done by
little and little ; but yet many littles will bring forth much,
and make a beautiful building in the end. Continue then
in the work ; add layer upon layer, add grace to grace, add
faith to faith, virtue to virtue, knowledge to knowledge ; and
never cease till the headstone is added, and the building
perfect and complete in Christ.

58

EXPOSITION VIII.

" Prayer in ihe Holy Ghost " a sweet privilege and a profit-
able liabit, giving strejigth for spii-itual work.

JUDE joins building and praying together. " But ye,
beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost." The two are so related to
each other that we cannot proceed with the one if we
neglect the other. There can be no progressive develop-
ment of the Christian character, no conscious advance in
spiritual life, in heavenly love, in Divine strength where
there is no prayer. There can be no real success in the
Church, no growth in the piety of her members, no increase
in the number of the saved, where there is no prayer.

Having on a former occasion dwelt upon the mutual
building enjoined, let us now direct our attention to that
which is evidently essential to success in the work, "praying
in the Holy Ghost." This is what we must be doing in
connection with all our work for God. What is prayer ?
Prayer, that which is recognised in Scripture as such,
consists not so much in our definition of helplessness as the
feeling of it. There may be " the form of sound words,"
and no prayer ; and there may be true prayer, and no
formal repetition of words. There is prayer in a look, a
groan. Prayer is the breathing out of the soul's sincere
desire after God. It is the look of the dependent child to
its own loving Father in all the consciousness of ulter help-
lessness, and in all the sweetness of filial trust.

Prayer is the evidence of a soul quickened into life. It
is " God's breath in man " returning to its source. There is
no spiritual life where the breathing of prayer is not carried
on. The soul that lives breathes; and this "spiritual

EXPOSITION VIII. 59

respiration " is as essential to the life of the soul as the air
we breathe is to the life of the body. He who is able to
speak to God in prayer, lives ; for prayer is the surest
indication of this heaven-born life. See ! yonder lies a
human body — I am told it is a corpse — lifeless and
breathless. I approach and ask those who are looking on,
" Is there any hope of life ? " One steps forth and says,
" There is hope, for I have put to his lips a glass, and I
am certain the glass is dimmed with breath. I have
examined, and there is a slight pulsation. There is life
where there is breath." And blessed be God, there is
spiritual life where there is prayer. Weak and languid it
mav be, but there is life where there is prayer; when it
ceases life is lost.

This prayer, which is the sign of spiritual life, is distin-

ouished by one glorious peculiarity; it is in the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of life, but He is

designated " the Spirit of grace and supplication." He is

the Author and Prompter of all genuine prayer. He

prepares, disposes, and enables us to pray for ourselves and

others. Every acceptable petition is the fruit of His

indwelling presence. No prayer can be acceptable that is

not offered up in and by the Spirit. On this point the

testimony of Scripture is very explicit, " God is a spirit,

and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and

in truth." "We are the circumcision, who worship God in

the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence

in the flesh." "Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our

infirmities ; for we know not what we should pray for as we

ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us

with groanings that cannot be uttered." " He maketh

intercession for the saints according to the will of God.''

"Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the

Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and

supplication for all saints." "We . . . have access by one

Spirit unto the Father."

From these passages it is obvious that the prayer which

6o JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

is required from us is prayer in the Holy Gliost. It is by
the hght of the Holy Spirit that we come to know the
Father's name, to rest on the Saviour's merits, and to plead
believingly the promises of mercy. It is the Holy Spirit
that teaches us what we are to pray for, and liow — drawing
out our souls in holy desires after spiritual things, and in
fervent supplications for others, filling our mouth with
arguments, leading us to plead our cause at the throne of
grace, and to urge our request with importunity till we
prevail.

"Let Moses in the spirit groan,
And God cries out let Me alone."

" Praying in the Holy Ghost " may sound strange in the
ear of the formalist and unspiritual ; '' for the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned." But every true Christian
knows what it means because he hath obtained the spiritual
faculty, and will be ready to exclaim, " Where the Spirit of
the Lord is there is liberty."

The spirit of prayer is what is most needed. What will
the form, the habit, or even the gift of prayer do for you
without the spirit of prayer ? You may have the gift, but
not the spirit of prayer. The gift and the spirit of prayer
are two distinct things. What is termed the gift is not a
supernatural communication, so much as a diligent improve-
ment of natural parts. A retentive memory, fluency of
utterance, natural fervour, are the chief elements which
constitute the gift of prayer. You may not be gifted in
prayer, but you may possess the spirit, and that is far more
important than the gift. For, as Bishop Leighton has well
said, "It is not the gilded paper and the good writing of a
petition that prevails with a king, but the sense of it." Nor
is it the fine phraseology, nor the rich sentiment, nor the
splendid imagery of our prayers that God regards — far
from it. It is the deep feeling, the holy earnestness,
the strong faith of the petitioner that pierces heaven,

EXPOSITION VIII. 6 1

enters the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and moves
Him graciously to answer. It is far better, therefore, to
have the spirit than the gift of prayer. The two can bear
no comparison in importance. The gift of prayer may
make us acceptable to man, but it is the grace that makes
us acceptable to God. We may be puffed up by the gift,
but the grace always lays and keeps us low. The gift may
be destroyed against our will, we may lose our speech, but
nothing outward can take away the spirit of prayer within ;
that has a tongue which no persecution can silence or destroy.
And with regard to sin, the spirit of prayer is much more
opposed to it than the gift. AVe may have a natural power and
pathos in prayer, though inconsistences prevail in our daily
conduct; but if the spirit of prayer live in us, all sin must
quail and be prostrate before it.

There are professing Christians who tell us that they
cannot pray, that they have no gift in prayer, and on that
ground try to excuse their silence in prayer meetings.
What? a Christian who cannot pray ! This can never be. We
should as soon believe that there was a soldier that could
not fight, a scholar that could not read, a mariner never on
board a vessel in his life, as believe a man who told us he
was a Christian and could not pray. Let those who never
or seldom pray in a prayer meeting, supposing they lack the
gift, get the spirit, and that will improve the gift. For while
it is true as we have said^ that a man may have the gift and
not the spirit of prayer, it is equally true to say that he who
has the spirit will improve the gift. We have known new
converts for example by living near to God after the new
birth, acquire greater freedom and power in the exercise of
prayer in six months, than others who have enjoyed less
of the Spirit of God have acquired in six years. Oh, let
the young timid disciple who feels it to be a great trial to
pray in our social assemblies, get the spirit of prayer and be
more in secret prayer with God, and he will soon find it
simple enough to pour out his heart with others in prayer —
'' duty will cease to be a load, and worship a task." He

62 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

will be ready anywhere and at any moment for the exercise.
For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is life and power,
liberty and unction, faith and everything that constitutes
acceptable prayer.

We shall never pray as we ought, that is with fervency
and power, unless we pray in the Holy. Ghost Nothing
will do as a substitute for the Spirit ; and nothing will make
up for this deficiency. A man may have a strong intellect,
a cultivated mind, a fine taste, a flowing eloquence, a
musical voice, but all will not make up for the absence of
the Spirit. Who has not felt dull and weary while listening
to a prayer full of good thoughts and kind sentiments, and
expressed in language scrupulously accurate, but which has
not been offered in the power of the Holy Ghost ? While
a brother of very little ability, of awkward manner and
stammering utterance has been pleading with God the
Father in the Holy Ghost, a power from on high has
pervaded and moved the whole assembly —

'"Twas e'en as if an angel shook his wings."

Yes, there was real power. We want more of this ; we
can do without fluency, but we cannot do without power.
"A fluency in prayer," observes Dr. A. Clarke, "is not
essential to praying ; a man may pray most powerfully in
the estimation of God, who is not able to utter a word.
The unutterable groan is big with meaning, and God
understands it because it is the language of His own Spirit.
Some desires are too mighty to be expressed — there is no
language expressive enough to give them proper form and
distinct vocal sound. Such desires show that they come
from God ; and as they come from Him, so they express
what God is disposed to do, and what He has purposed to
do. Those who experience these inward groanings in the
spirit and unutterable longings at the throne of grace for
their own holiness, the triumph of truth and the salvation of
men, are the true Israel of God, that have power with God
and man, and prevail."

EXrOSlTION VIII. ^i

How may we know that we pray in the Spirit ?
We answer

(i.) If we pray in the Spirit we shall pray much in the
words of the Spirit. We shall be prompted to express the
desires kindled in our hearts in the dialect of the Spirit.
The very prayers indited by the Spirit of God and offered
by devout men in olden time, will often be upon our lips ;
such as these, " Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe."
" Be Thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may con-
tinually resort." " Lead me to the Rock that is higher
than I." " Lord, help me." " Quicken me according to
Thy word." " Sanctify me through Thy truth." The Holy
Spirit honours His word, and will lead us to remind God of
what He has said and done, and to translate His words into
prayer and His promises into arguments.

(2.) If we pray in the Spirit, we shall pray in the name of
Jesus. There will be something more than the formal
mention of it. We shall rest upon it, and pray through it.
We shall go to God with the eye of faith on what Christ is
and what He has done, as supplying the only wvarrant and
ground of approach. Prayer in the Spirit through the name
of Jesus will be heard. " Verily I say unto you, AVhatsoever
ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you."

(3.) If we pray in the Spirit, we shall pray in subjection to
the known will of God. " He maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of God." He makes known to
us the will of God, and enables us to present our request in
subjection to and in accordance with His will and pleasure.
(4.) If we pray in the Spirit, we shall pray in faith. We
shall take hold of the promises with firmness, and be fully
persuaded that what God has promised, He is able to
perform. "This is the confidence that we have in Him,
that, if we ask anything according to His will. He heareth
us ; and if we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we desired of
Him " (i John v. 14, 15).

These are the distinguishing features of prayer in the

64 JUDE\S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

Holy Ghost. If we realize the value of such prayer, we
shall prize very highly the presence of the Holy Spirit.
For where the Spirit is, there will be power and success in
prayer. Let us make much of His indwelling presence ;
let us cherish every feeling which He excites in the mind ;
attend to His faintest whisper. Let us take heed that in
nothing we grieve Him ; for if the Holy Spirit be grieved
and hindered by absorbing cares, self-indulgence, idle
amusements and other sins, we shall lose communion with
God, lack power in prayer, become cold and formal, and be
in danger of giving up prayer altogether. Lord, what were
my life, if I could not pray ! It would be my burden, and
how can I pray without Thy Spirit ? Send forth Thy Spirit
into my heart that I may cry, " Abba Father ! "

"The prayer I make will then be sweet indeed,
If Thou the Spirit give by which I pray."

65

EXPOSITION IX.

The command to presence the love of God in the heart.
"Keep yourselves in the love of God." — Ver. 21.

ALL the parts of this precious exhortation are in harmony.
It is by building up ourselves on our most holy faith,
and by praying in the Holy Ghost, that we most effectually
keep ourselves in the love of God. It is assumed that we
know God, that we have entered into His love, and that
His love has entered into us ; and therefore Jude in these
words counsels us to keep in it. He says to us, in effect,
this Divine love is a safe fortress, abide therein. It is a
rich possession, retain it. It is a holy atmosphere, con-
tinually live in it. Keep in the happy conscious enjoyment
of it. Rest in it, and be satisfied with it. "God is love,
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God."'

The exhortation to keep in the love of God implies the
possibility of losing it. The charge brought against the
Church at Ephesus was that she had left her " first love."
The Divine displeasure was awakened, and tender moni-
tions given her to repent, and do her first works. We are
pained by the conviction which is forcing itself upon us,
that " the love of many is waxing cold." The glow and
freshness of their first love is faded, its force is spent.
They have failed through one cause and another to keep
themselves in the love of God. This sad fact is attested
by too many witnesses to admit of a doubt. The love of
God is transferred to the world. What Paul said of Demas
Christ may say of many — they have forsaken me, having
loved the present evil world.

As declensions from the love of God are so common in
the present day we shall endeavour to enforce, and, if

F

66 JUDE'S EPISTLE UF A PO STACY.

possible, to impress upon belie^"el•s this important precept,
" Keep yourselves in the love of God." I'here are special
reasons that should lead us to constantly aim at this.

(i.) Keep yourselves in the love of God, as it is the
essence of your religious life. The love of God, that is to
say, the love which we exercise towards God, is love in its
highest exercise, and directed towards its noblest object.
Love is justly represented as the essence of the new-born
life of the soul. For as soon as the heart is renewed, it
turns to God as the supreme object of complacency and
desire. It comprehends delight in God, confidence in God,
obedience to God, and every other reHgious sentiment. As
religion is " a tree of life," so love is the sap by which the
tree is made to grow and flourish and bring forth fruit. Let
this Divine element be lost, and the tree from root to
branch, and from branch to the feeblest twig, would lose its
vitality and freshness : its form and symmetry might be
preserved for a while, but it would be nothing more than a
withered and dead symmetry. The Cliristian is called to
adorn the Gospel of his Lord and Saviour. To do this
he must be animated and stimulated by this love in the
discharge of all his duties towards God and towards his
fellow-creatures. His faith must work by love, his labour
must be the activity of love, his patience must be the
endurance of love, his hope the longing of love, and every
other grace must have its root in love. It is the diamond
among the jewels in the believer's breastplate. The other
graces shine like the precious stones of nature with their
own peculiar lustre and various hues, but the diamond is
white. Now, in white all the other colours are united ; so
in love is centred every other grace and virtue. It comes
out in various forms : in acts of forgiveness, forbearance,
compassion, and kindness one to another. Let us then,
ab'jve all things, and at any cost, keep ourselves in this
love ; for we have as much of true religion as we have of
the love of God, and no more.

(2.) Keep yourselves in the love of God, because it

EXPOSITION IX. 67

produces clieerful obedience to the will of God. The love of
God is not a light transient sentiment, but an abiding prin-
ciple, ever working in the inmost recesses, and through all
the avenues of our moral and spiritual being. It is a power
within and the main spring of action without.

" Love is the fountain whence
All true obedience flows ;
The Christian serves the God he loves,
And loves the God he knows."

" This is the love of God, that we keep His command-
nients ; and His commandments are not grievous." "He
that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is
that loveth Me." " He that loveth Me keepeth My sayings."
Obedience is love itself made visible — love in action. It is
the voice, and look, and carriage which affection of neces-
sity assumes. Who does not smile at professions of friend-
ship which evaporate in empty words? Who does not know
instinctively that it is the nature of a strong affection to take
possession of the man, and be visible in the general tenor
of his actions ? Would any one think it necessary to be-
lieve in the most solemn asseverations of attachment which
lead to no practical consequences ? God has established
exactly the same test of our devotion to Him which we
habitually apply towards each other. He judges of our love
to Him not by any mere verbal expressions, not by occa-
sional ebullition of feelings, but by conformity to His will.
Whenever the heart is warmed with the love of God, there
will be a willing service rendered to God. Let us keep
ourselves in the love of God as the blessed incentive to
obedience ; the more we love God the more cheerfully shall
we trust, honour, and obey Him. Declensions in obedience
begin in declining love ; and when we leave our first love
we neglect to do our first works.

(3.) Keep yourselves in the love of God, because it will
constrain you to love the children of God. " If a man say, I
love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar ; for he that
loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love

68 lUDL'S EPISTLE OF A POST AC V.

God, whom he hath not seen ? And this commandment
have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his
brother also." The fire of love to God cannot burn in a
heart cold and frozen to the saints ; our love to God and
the godly, grow or decay together. Living and abiding in
the love of God we shall live and abide in love to our
fellow-disciples. We shall not pause to inquire to what
section of the Church they belong, what name they bear,
what colour of uniform they wear ; but, recognizing in them
the spirit of Christ's disciples, our heart will warm toward
them, and our hand will be freely offered to them. What
force, as well as beauty, there is in St. John's reasoning on
this subject, " Beloved, let us love one another ; for love is
of God ; and every one that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for
God is love." "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also
to love one another. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and His love is perfected in us."

(4.) " Keep yourselves in the love of God," as it is the
great presen<aiive from the erro7-s and evils which ihiong your
path. Love imparts light to the mind ; the more we lo\e
God, the more clearly shall we know God, and the meaning
of His word. What says the great Teacher? "If you
continue in My word (or love), then are ye My disciples
indeed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free." One of the blessed results of continuing
in Christ's love is a capacity to know the truth. We shall
know the truth spiritually — because that is its true meaning
— effectually, savingly. It is thus the Apostle represents
the enlightening influence of this love in his prayer for the
Philippians : " And this I pray, that your love may abound
yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that
ye may approve things that are excellent," or that ye may
test the difference of things, the good and the bad, the
true and the false, to avoid the one and choose the other.

Love to God, my reader, is your only safeguard against
all manner of false doctrine and evil practices. Lose the

E POSITION IX. 69

fervour of tliis love, and there is no telling the notions you
may adopt, or the course you may pursue. As, therefore,
you dread apostacy, keep yourself in the love of God.

(5.) Keep yourselves in the love of God, for in doing
so you will preserve order and harmony witliiii. When the
love of God is in the ascendant, it sets all the powers of
the soul in motion ; it gives impulse and energy to the will,
discernment to the understanding, and brings into harmony
and peace all the discordant elements of our nature. Happy
indeed is the soul where this Divine love reigns. More-
over, keeping in this love you will preserve peace and unity
among yourselves as members of the Church. Love unites,
and union in the Church is what we earnestly desire to
witness. " Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity." Love is the basis of Christian
union and fellowship.

" Ble.st be the tie that binds

Our liearcs in Christian love,
The fellowsliip of kindred minds
Is like to that above."

Above all, keeping in the love of God, we shall feel drawn
to Him as the centre of attraction. Converse with Him
will be our element. All our purposes and pursuits will be
in harmony with His will, and all that we do will be done
to His glory. Loving God we can sweetly acquiesce in all
His dispensations toward us, whether they be good or evil.
We can bear almost anything from one Ave love, especially
when we know that it is accompanied with wisdom and
directed by goodness. It was love that dictated those
memorable sayings of Job, during the early part of his
trials. " The Lord gave, and He hath taken away ; blessed
be the name of the Lord. Shall we receive good at the
hands of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil ? "

(6.) One more reason. " Keep yourselves in the love of
God," that you may be esteemed and loved of God. For
there is a sense in which God's love to us is the result of
our love to Him. " I love them that love Me." Who
would not desire to be loved of God? If it is a privilege to

yo JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

have the esteem and love of good and wise men, it is in-
finitely greater to enjoy the holy complacency of God.
" The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, and his count-
enance doth behold the upright." "The Lord taketh
pleasure in them that fear Him." What He said of His
beloved Son, He says of every Christian, "Because he has
set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him." "The
Lord preserveth all them that love Him." "Be merciful
unto me," said David, "as Thou usest to do unto those
that love Thy name." What can exceed the sv.eetness and
suitableness of our Lord's assurance. " He that loveth INIe
shall be loved of My Father, and I will love Him and
manifest myself unto Him, and we will come to Him and
make our abode with Him." If we keep in the love of God,
and do the things that please Him, we shall be loved of
God, esteemed of God, and approved of God. " The best
of men," says one, " shall have the best of love."

We have now assigned reasons why we should keep our-
selves in the love of God. For the same reasons we should
groiv in it. Let us pray that our love may abound yet more
and more, and that we may be "rooted and grounded in
love," and that the " Lord may direct our hearts into the
love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ." Let
us not linger upon the margin of this sea of love, but enter
into its depth and dwell in it. " For he that dwelleth in
love, dwelleth in God, and God in him."

In the biography of the late Edward Bickersteth, of
London, the following touching incident is recorded: "Dur-
ing his illness," says the biographer, " he derived much
consolation from the word and promises of God. When
one of his children brought him some refreshment, he said,
' I will give you a cup of living water for this cup of tea ; it
is this — I have been thinking about it a long time — " Keep
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of the
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." These may be
pleasant rooms to dwell in (mentioning some of the rooms
of the house) ; but the best room of all to keep in is the love

EXPOSITIOA' IX. yi

of God, and what a prospect we have from it, "looking for
the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." ' '' The
last words of Richard Cromwell to those who stood around
him were these — may they be mine — "Live in love, I am
going to the God of love. Keep in God's precious love ;
live, breathe, and act in it, and all will be well in life, death,
and eternity."

Let us briefly notice a feic directions as 1o tlie i/ieafis of
preserving our iove la God. Keep yourselves in the love of
God. It is as true that we are to keep ourselves, as that we
are kept by the power of God. The precept is as Divine as
the promise. We can by the exercise of the grace given do
what is here enjoined. We know the love of God is pro-
duced in our hearts by the Holy Ghost ; and it is for us, in
humble dependence upon His assistance, to cultivate dili-
gently those means by which it may be cherished and
increased. \\'hat then are the means to secure this important
end ? We answer —

(i.) We must avoid those tilings whic/i. are inconsistent -ct<it/i
the love of God. It has been frequently and truly observed
that love is a tender plant, requiring to be both guarded
and watered diligently. It will not thrive among the weeds
of worldly cares and fleshly lusts. We are warned not to
love the world. We must keep ourselves out of love with
the world, if we are to keep in the love of God, " If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
We must not live in the indulgence of any sin, any secret
sin is inconsistent with the love of God, Let us watch and
pray, when pursuing our daily employment, that the damp
and chilling influence of the world may be warded off, and
the fire of love kept constantly alive within.

{2.) But it is not merely by avoiding those things which
are inconsistent with the love of God that we shall promote
it. We must attend to those that cherish it. We must
continue to feed on the A\'ord of God, as the aliment of
spiritual life. Let us seek to become more and more
acquainted with what God has revealed in His precious

72 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

Word, that our love to God may be preserved and main-
tained unto the end. Let the reading of the Scriptures be
accompanied with prayer for the Holy Spirit to enHghten
our minds and to instruct us in the things of God. These
are means adapted to the end proposed ; they are to love
what oil is to the fire, tending to feed and to enliven it.

(3.) ^Yt must persevere in obedience to the 7ain of God.
The Saviour enjoins this as the means of preserving this
love. He also sets before us His own obedience and love.
" As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you " — •
Amazing truth ! — " Continue ye in My love." How is this
to be done ? " If ye keep My commandments, ye shall
abide in My love ; even as I have kept My Father's com-
mandments, and abide in His love." Oh, that we as obedient
children may practically obey and do the Father's will, and
then we shall know what it is to keep in His love.

(4.) Finally there must htjreque/it meditation on the love
of God, revealed to us in Christ Jesus. "We have known,"
said John, "and believed the love that God hath to us."
And blessed be God, we can say that we know from the
testimony given, the love God hath to us ; and believing the
testimony we receive it into our hearts, and know it, experi-
ence it in the way of enjoyment. To keep, therefore, in
this love, we must continue in the knowledge and faith of
God's love to us. We have beheved, but God is saying to
us, "Continue to believe in My love to you. I have put
My Son upon the cross to show My love, could I do more ?
We see the love of God, as we look on Jesus lifted up on
the cross. " In this was manifested the love of God toward
us." " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He
loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.'

Faith in the love of God in Christ begets in us love to
Him in return. It may be said that we abide in the love of
God when we receive it, and reciprocate it. Oh, believers,
seek to be established in the faith of God's love, that you
may in these days of lukewarmness keep yourselves in the
love of God.

7Z

EXPOSITION X.

Loouing expectantly for jnercy and eternal life. — Ver. 21 :
"Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

JUDE in this final direction seems to take it as granted
that those who keep themselves in the love of God will
be looking with hope and joy for the coining of the Lord.
Let us ask ourselves, how is it with us ? Are we looking ?
Is this our turn and frame of mind? Looking is an exercise
of faith, an act of obedience, an outgoing of love to Him
for whom we look. He that is not looking, that is careless
and indifferent to His coming, lacks an essential feature of
the Christian character. The first Christians were taught to
be looking for the Saviour from heaven. Let us then learn
what we are to look for — mercy and eternal life.

(i.) Tlie mercy we are taught to look for is the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we understand this mercy to be mercy personally
exercised by the Lord Jesus ; He to whom the Father hath
committed all things in the government of the world, and
in communications with the Church. ^Ve look to Him
personally to receive mercy at His hands. It is not par-
doning mercy, that we have obtained from God through the
atoning death of Christ ; it is not accepting mercy, that we
have received ; it is not sustaining mercy, that we daily
experience ; but it is retoarding, croiuning mercy — the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will come again
to reward His people, not according to their merit, but
according to the riches of His mercy and grace. We never
can deserve His mercy. We can never lay the Saviour
under obligation. The rewards of the day of the Lord,
though expressive of righteousness and faithfulness, have

74 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

their origin in mercy. The crown of righteousness which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give in that day to those
who love His appearing, will not be a reward of debt, but
of grace. But for grace we should have no good deeds to
be rewarded; but being accepted in Christ, what is done in
His name will be rewarded for His sake. The cup of cold
water, the mite, the box of spikenard, the least service done
to the least of His little ones will be crowned with a rich
reward as having been done to Him. This is the mercy of
the Lord, and the mercy the best of men will need in that
day. In this way the Apostle Paul looked at the matter, for
in recounting the kind acts of a friend towards him, prays
not that the Lord may reward him according to his good
works, but that he may find mercy at His coming. " The
Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus ; for he
oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains ; but
when in Rome he sought me out very diligently and found
me. The Lord grant unto him that he ma)- find mercy of
the Lord in that day."

Oh, may we find the mercy of our Lord Jesus in that
day ! We have no claim to it. We are totally undeserving
of it. We cannot merit it by our doing or sufi"ering. We
are unprofitable servants. Nevertheless, we look forward
with confidence to the time when we shall receive from the
Lord Jesus, the precious gifts of His grace — the rewards of
His mercy. We are now heirs of this glorifying mercy ;
by and by we shall be in full possession of it.

" Mercy's full power we then shall prove,
Loved with an everlasting love."

(2.) The mercy we are taught to look for is mercy unto
eternal life. Eternal life is something already in possession.
"He that receiveth My words, and believeth on Him that
sent Me, hath eternal life, and shall not come into judg-
ment, but is passed from death unto life." But though
this most precious gift is spoken of as a present possession,
it is referred to as a future hope. "This is the prornise

EXPOSITION X. 75

tb;U lie hath promised us, even eternal life." "To them
who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and
honour and immortality, eternal life." "Ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal life." In these
passages, eternal life is put as a promise, a hope, an inherit-
ance. It is a purchased as well as a comuiunicated life. It
is the fruit of redemption as well as the free gift of love. It
is the crown and climax of our hope. " Looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." But
what is this life ? Who can fully comprehend the prize ?
Eternal life ! It is something more than freedom from the
evils of this world, and the miseries of that which is to
come. It is something more than the mere consciousness
of existence ; it is a life of holiness, and honour, and
happiness ; a life that embraces the blissful immortality of
both soul and body — the perfect uninterrupted happiness of
the tv/ioie man. This is held out to us as our hope. We
look for Christ who is our life, when He comes He will be
the life of our whole nature, body, soul and spirit. As He
lives we shall live. It will be eternal life in the heaven of
God's unveiled presence ; and into that heavenly sphere we
shall enter, to go out no more for ever. Eternal life will be
mercy's bud expanded into the undying flower. Eternal
life will be mercy in her plenitude ; mercy without measure
and without end.

Oh, brethren beloved, let us during the little season we
are down here, be patiently and lovingly " looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." " The
words of Jude," said Mr. Fuller, when dying, " supply me
with the aptest illustration of my frame of mind, looking for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ought not this to be
our frame of mind in life ? " Waiting for the coming of the
Lord Jesus." "Looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ." What a blessed state of mind to be in.

" Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day
of God." Looking ! like men looking out anxiously toward

76 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

the east for the first dawn of some long-wished-for day.
Like men climbing the lofty mountain to get the first sight
of the rising sun on some festal morning. Looking for the
glad return of the Lord. Looking for our gathering together
unto Him. Looking for the mercy which will end in the
better life. This looking will nerve us with fresh energy for
service, and lift the heart up out of its cares and discourage-
ments. It will tend to elevate us above all that is sordid,
selfish, and worldly. It will purify and make us meet to dwell
in the light of His presence in the grand future. " Every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is
pure." " "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober and hope to the end, for the grace which is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." " But
ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost ; keep yourselves in the love of
God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life."

17

EXPOSITION XI.

Tlie special duties ivliich are required of us in referefice to
Apostates,

" And of some have compassion, making a difference. Others save
with fear, pulling them out of the fire ; hating even the garments spotted
by the flesh." — Vers. 22, 23.

IN the former pregnant passages which engaged our thoughts,
Jude enforces upon us the exhortation to estabhsh
ourselves in the faith, to hve in the spirit of prayer, to keep
in the enjoyment of God's love, and to be looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. This is
blessed work for us to do, but it is not all that is enjoined.
Our responsibility does not end with " building," " praying,"
'"keeping," "looking." There are duties which we owe to
others as well as to ourselves. Were these duties to be
passed over unnoticed, our exposition of this Epistle w'ould
be wanting in faithfulness and consistency. Abiding in the
love of God, we shall be secretly and instinctively impelled
to care for those who are not in the faith. Jude would have
us cast a loving look, and stretch out a helping hand to
them. "Of some have coiiipassion, making a difference;
others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire ; hating
even the garments spotted by the flesh."

These words set forth our duty in relation to apostates.
It is to seek, in various ways, to rescue them from error, and
sin, and misery. The two principal thoughts here suggested
are these : —

I. That among apostates are some whose condition may
zvell excite and elicit our compassion.

II. Others are as brands in the fire wJioni we should seek to
rescue with fear and earnest effort.

yS JUDE'S EPISl^LE OF APOSTACY.

I. Tliat among apostates arc sojne tvJiose condition /nav
luell excite and elicit our compassion. " Of some have com-
passion." The feehng to be manifested by us to apostates
is expressed in one word — compassion. This feeling of
compassion is akin to pity ; it includes pity, and something
more. Compassion is pity in action ; it moves us to help
the helpless, and to relieve the needy. So it is said, that
" Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, touched
the leper, and healed him." To the man out of whom was
cast the legion of devils, Jesus said, " Go home to thy friends,
and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee,
and hath had compassion on thee." Again, we read that
when the Lord " saw the multitude, He was moved with
compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scat-
tered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.'' They were
neglected and ignorant, and He began to teach them many
things ; they were ready to faint with hunger, and He fed
them ; they were sick, and He healed them.

Such was the compassion of Jesus, and such is the com-
passion which we are to feel to our fellow men. Have we
the mind that was in Christ Jesus ? Are our hearts stirred
with feelings of compassion as we look upon the many that
are out of the way, and on the high road to ruin ? " Of
some," says Jude, " have compassion." It may be asked
who are the some whom the Apostle deems to be objects of
compassion ? They are such as have made shipwreck of
faith, such as have erred concerning the truth, and have
separated themselves from Christian fellowship, and drifted
into the region of doubt and the mire of sin. There are
many of this unhappy class of persons to be found in
Christendom. Some of them we can never know, and can
never hope to reach by our compassion. But there are
some we do know ; they are easy to find, they are within
the sphere in which we daily move, within the circle of our
acquaintance, within the circle of our relations, within the
circle of our household. They once knew the Lord, and
liave fallen from grace. These are the objects of pity. Do

EXPOSITION XI. 79

we feel tenderly concerned for them ? Do we look with
compassion upon them ? Do we plead and pray for them ?
There were persons of this class in Paul's time that he could
not think of without tears. " Many walk of whom I have
told you oft, and now tell you with weeping." If we are
alive to their apostate condition, we shall feel for them,
and at times experience much distress, fervent compassion,
and an agonizing desire for their restoration to the paths of
righteousness and peace. We shall be ready when oppor-
tunity arises to warn them faithfully of the endless hell of
fire into which they will sink if they continue to drift away
from Christ, and to entreat them to retrace their steps in
words that breathe of mercy. Oh, if we as believers had
more of this compassion, our power for usefulness would be
increased a hundredfold.

This compassion is discriminating in its exercise.
" Making a difference." There is a difference in the cha-
racter of apostates, and wisdom is needed in the treatment
of each. It would be unwise and injurious to deal with all
after the same fashion, or to think one way as good as
another. We must take pains to mark differences of
character. Some are hardened and confirmed in their evil
ways ; they go on in sin and error, without remorse. It is
difficult to know how to treat them. Warn them, and they
conceive we are knocking at the wrong door. Pity them,
and they will tell us to spare our pity for those who need it.
Offer them the light of Divine truth, and they discern it not,
and will tell us that they prefer to "walk in the light of their
own fire." They are proud, self-conceited, confident in
delusion, and seem to be given up to hopeless apostacy.
We cannot in the strict meaning of the word compassionate
them. All efforts to save them are futile. The Holy Spirit
says in effect, "Let them alone." Their doom is settled.
Some apostates are diffident and anxious ; they see their
folly in departing from the Lord, and in moments of calm
reflection, lament it ; they are open to conviction, and by
kind words and a gentle spirit may be persuaded to return.

8o JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

Some have been misled — seduced from the truth by false
teaching, and are unsettled. On them we should look with
compassion, and seek in the spirit of love to convert them
from the terror of their ways (Gal. vi. i). Some are in a
state of indifference, careless and unthinking, and need to be
aroused and admonished. May God give us the spiritual
discernment needed, that we may know to whom to speak,
when, where, and how.

II. There are others as brands in the fire, whom tve are
to rescue with fear and earnest effort. " Others save with
fear, pulling them out of the fire ; hating even the garments
spotted by the flesh." Note —

(i.) Their perilous condition. They are represented as
being in the fire. What sort of fire ? The fire 6i sin, that,
indeed, is the element in which they live. Think for a
moment of the multitudes around us that are in this fire ;
although they have no idea of the terrible condition they
are in. They realise it not. They do not, and will not see
what sin is, and what it is doing. They have no anxiety,
or alarm, no apprehension of the moral ruin sin is stealthily
working ; no presentiment of the doom that awaits them.
They flatter themselves that their security is guaranteed
against the fire of sin, being insured in the office of respect-
ability of life. But in truth they are living in the fire of
corrupt desires and ungodly lusts. Is it not affecting to see
so many of the sons and daughters of fashion, light-hearted
and buoyant, merry and gay in the fire of youthful lusts,
" sporting themselves with their own deceivings ? " Is it
not sad to think of men of science, of intelligence, and
respectabihty, who feel more or less the effects of sin, yet
make light of it, and close their ears to the warnings given
of their danger ? We are amazed as we witness men im-
mersed in business, pursuing earthly gain, and living as if
they had no eternity to prepare for, and no danger to
alarm them. On every hand, we behold the sons of toil,
thoughtless about their salvation, the prey of sin, inflamed
and stupefied by strong drink ; and though they bitterly

EXPOSITION XI. 8 1

feel the ravages and ill-effects of sin, yel, like the moth,
seek the flame again, till they are scorched, stunned, and
helpless. What saith Isaiah ? " Wickedness burneth like
fire" (ix. 1 8). As fire has in it the property to burn and
destroy that on which it acts, so sin has in it the power to
pain and scorch and ruin spirit, soul, and body. It is
man's direst foe. It undermines all his hopes, burns up
all his higher aspirations, deadens his moral sensibilities,
sears his conscience, paralyzes the energies of his will ; and
if this fire is not arrested, put out, quenched by the water
of life, through the blood of the Lamb, it requires no pro-
phetic spirit to declare what the end will be.

We know, and it is a solemn thought, that all who are
living in the fire of sin are liable every moment to tlie fire
of Divine justice. The wrath of an infinitely just and holy
God against the rejectors of His mercy is terrible to con-
template. It is compared to fire. It is the natural ex-
pression of His hatred to sin. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. The fire of
God's wrath has been felt at times in this life. It was
l)Oured upon the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah for
their wickedness. It consumed the company of Korah in
the wilderness for their rebellion. It fell as with a lightning
flash upon the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, for
one act of disobedience. These are facts of history, and
they may be multiplied almost without number, which reveal
the fire of God's wrath against man's ungodliness. But,
oh, the wrath to come ! Soon, very soon the Lord will
come, and make known His indignation toward His enemies
(Isa. Ixvi. 14-16). " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking ven-
geance on them that know not God, and that obey not the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and the glory of His power." In that day the Lord Jesus
will avenge Himself upon those who would not that He

G

82 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

should reign over them, and will say to them, " Depart, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels." Hell will be their everlasting dwelling-place, where
they will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire in company
with the most wretched associates. It is a fearful thing to
fall under the heavy wrath of a sin-avenging God. Oh !
that men would hear and fear, and turn to the Lord.

This brings us to notice — ■

(2.) Our 7vork. It is to save them from the fire. How
are we to do this ? " Save them," says Jude, " with fear."
This fear, be it observed, is not the fear of man which
bringeth a snare ; it is not the fear of the slave unprotected
from the licentious power of his master ; it is not the fear
which arises from sin and guilt. It is the fear of the Lord,
a principle wrought in the soul by the Eternal Spirit. It is
filial and reverential in its nature, and is associated with
love and obedience. It must needs be influential. Noah
in an eminent degree exhibited its influence. He steadfastly
believed what God said of a coming deluge, and, moved
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his family.
Moses in Egypt forewarned Pharoah, that the Lord on the
morrow would send a violent storm of hail and fire, and
that every man and beast in the field, unsheltered, should
be destroyed. He that femrd the Lord among the servants
of Pharoah, made his servants and his cattle flee into the
houses (Exod. ix. 18-25). They were saved with fear. This
fear then is the fruit of faith, and an incentive to action.
We firmly beheve that the warnings of God's word are true,
that the vials of His wrath will be poured out upon the
wicked for their iniquities, and therefore we fear. " My
flesh trembleth for fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy
righteous judgments" (Psa. cxix. 120). Faith sees the day
of wrath at hand, and moves us with fear to warn sinners of
their impending danger. Moved by this fear we cannot
hold our peace, we cannot let them alone in their false
notions and dreamy delusions ; we must try and strive to
startle them into the terrible and terrifying discovery that

EXPOSITION XI. 83

sin has ruined them, and then tell them that the onl)- way of
salvation is by Jesus Christ ; and that if they continue to
despise His warnings, reject His overtures of mercy, and
resist the gracious strivings of the Holy Spirit, they will be
finally lost, and that eternity will bring no hope of mercy.
Living under the influence of this fear we shall anxiously
yearn to save them, and to cry with trembling emotion,
" Awake ! awake ! Arise, lest ye be consumed." Many
holy men have employed language to frighten men out of
their sins, and have been instruments by this method of
saving some.

(3.) This fear i/i its opcraiioti will produce ear nest Jiess in
tiie ivork of pulling them out of the fire. The nature and
magnitude of the work demands it. There must, we re-
peat, be earnestness, haste, courage, bravery, and even a
willingness to hazard our own life in this enterprise. We
could give many touching illustrations of men who have
risked their own life in their efforts to rescue others from
temporal death. And ought we not to feel a more intense
concern, and put forth a mightier energy to save our fellow-
men from the wretchedness and misery of sin here and
hereafter. We cannot excuse our complacent inactivity by
saying that God alone can save them. He is pleased to use
us as instruments and agents for the salvation of souls :
and if He in His infinite mercy has rescued us from the
fire, surely we shall be constrained by grateful love to
throw our whole soul into the work. We sometimes sing,

" Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave ;
Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Rescue the jjeriihing, care for the dying,

Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save."

But what are we doing to save them ? We are in the
midst of spiritual wretchedness. Many of our near neigh-
bours are in the fire ; are they to perish unpitied and
without sympathy from us ? Shall we be so cruel as to be
unconcerned whether they are saved or lost ? We cannot,

84 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF AFOSJ'ACY.

if we have a spark of Divine love in our hearts. Nor can
we conceive how any Christian can be satisfied to shirk his
responsibihty for the souls of others. To every Christian
there is the message of God : " If thou forbear to deliver
them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready
to be slain ; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not ; doth
not He that pondereth the heart consider it ? and He that
keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it ? and shall not He
render to every man according to his works?" (Prov. xxiv.
II, 12). Let no one indulge the thought for a moment,
that because he is not an evangelist, teacher, or leader in
the Church, but only a private member, he is under no
obligation to engage in this labour of love. Would it be
right to pass a house on fire without giving warning, even
though one were not a member of the Fire Brigade ?
Should we not seek to save a drowning man, even though
we could not command the patent lifeboat ? Whatever
may be our Church position, we are responsible to do what
we can in our sphere and station to pluck men out of the
fire. What is needed in every Christian for this work is a
deep and earnest longing after souls, a keen sense of their
danger, and a desire to save them.

We do not hesitate to affirm that luibelief underlies this
apathy in reference to the spiritual condition of the masses
around us. If we believed in a coming judgment, in the
doom of the ungodly, in the dread realities of eternity, in
the lake of fire, and in the worm that dieth not, we should
arouse ourselves to do all in our power, by prayer, reason-
ing, reproof, and self-denying efforts to save them. " Know-
ing," said St. Paul, " the terror of the Lord we persuade
men." The heart of the apostle was bent on the salvation
of Jew and Gentile. " Though I be free from all men, yet
have I made myself servant imto all, that I might gain the
more. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain
the weak : I am made all things to all men, that I might by
all means save some'" {\ Cor. ix. 19, 22). "Brethren, if
any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him ; let

EXPOSITION XI. 85

him know that he which converteth the sinner from the
error of his way shaU save a soul from death, and shall
hide a multitude of sins." " Of some have compassion,
making a difference ; others save with fear, pulling them
out of the fire."

Brethren, believe me, there are to be found those around
us, who with outstretched arms are pleading for help ! They
are in the scorching fire of sin, and are groaning to be
delivered ; they are longing for some kind hand to snatch
them from thence, ShaU we stand aloof ? Some are
Hngering on the plains of Sodom ; oh, let us lay hold of
them, and with a friendly violence bring them forth. Mav
God put into our hearts this love for souls, and grant unto
us the joy and honour of pulling them out of the fire !

AVe observe, in conclusion, that while we pity the fallen,
and help to lift them out of the misery of sin, ive must take
great care to preserve our own purity , "'' Jiating even the
garments spotted by the flesh " lest by the touch of it we
become polluted. We must learn to distinguish between
the sinner and his sins. We are allowed to hate the work
of them that turn aside, but we are not to hate their persons
(Psa. ci. 3). In the life of Christ we see large charity for
great sinners, but no charity for sin ; much compassion,
combined with infinite separation from sin. It is a mistake
to suppose that in order to pluck others from the fire we
must go into the fire ourselves. This will never do. The
garment spotted by the flesh must be inwardly hated,
loathed, and outwardly shunned. Freedom from sin, purity
of life, are essential to success in saving others. The best
way to rescue a man from an evil position is to be tho-
roughly free ourselves. How can I best pull a man out of
a morass ? Surely not by going into the morass, but by
standing on firm ground^ and from thence lending him a
helping hand. I cannot pull a man out of anything unless
I am out myself. If we tamper with sin, tolerate error, and
cultivate friendship with the men of the world in the hope
of saving them, we shall be in danger of being contami-

86 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF A POST AC Y.

nated ourselves. We must be thoroughly and decidedly
separate from the world, consistent and holy in life, and
have our hearts brimful and overflowing with love to the
perishing, if we are to be successful in the godlike employ-
ment of saving them.

^7

EXPOSITION XII.

T//t' CIosi>ig Doxology.

" Now uulO Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present
you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To
the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and
power, both now and for ever. Amen." — Vers. 24, 25.

WE have been occupied in tracing the principles and prac-
tices of apostacy brought out in this Epistle. We are
sensible, without any false modesty, that the outline which
we have given is rough and imperfect ; but if what we have
written tends to awaken the reader to a sense of the subtle
evils which are at work in the churches, and leads him to
avail himself of the warnings against them, then what we
have written will prove, we trust, practically useful.

The Apostle closes this brief but weighty and solemn
Epistle with a doxologyj which evidently grows out of it and
completes and adorns it. This doxology is full of comfort
to us, inasmuch as there is praise rendered to One who is
able to keep us in the midst of all the dark and terrible
forms of apostacy that surround us, and it is to His holy
keeping we are committed. " Now unto Him that is able
to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only
wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and
power, both now and for ever. Amen." Let us consider —

/. What it is, that God our Saviour is able to do for us
Jiere and Iiereafter.

II. The doxo/ogy directed to God our Saviour now and
hereafter.

I. What it is, that God our Saviour is able to do for us
iiere and hereafter. " He is able to keep you from falling^
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory

88 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF A POST AC Y.

with exceeding joy." These words express the confidence
of Jude in the Divine abihty of our Saviour to keep us, and
they should inspire us with the same confidence.

He is able to keep us from falhng. To fall is to stumble
into sin and error. We are liable to stumble, and we know
from experience that if we are not vigilant and watchful, we
shall slip and stumble in our Christian course. The warnings
given us in this Epistle are sufficient to impress us with our
danger. We are reminded of angels falling, Israel failing,
cities falling, famous men falling into contention — Balaam
falling into the sin of covetousness, and perishing. These
are beacons to warn us. We are not free from danger.
Many in this day have stumbled, and are stumbling through
men who handle the Word of God deceitfull)-. Errors
abound. Snares of one kind or another are laid for our
feet. They are to be met with in trade, in pleasure, in
prosperity, in the church, in the world ; and unless we con-
tinually take heed to our steps, we shall stumble into
temptation and sin. There is no necessity, however, for us
to stumble. We may be kept. While alive to our weakness
and danger, it is our joy to know that there is One who is
able to keep us from falling.

(i.) The Lo7-d Jesjis is able in the exercise of His power to
keep iis from falling. Wo. can have no doubt of this, if we
regard the power exercised over us and over our' tempters
as Divine. Our Lord through His obedience unto death,
proved Himself to be worthy to be entrusted with the power
of God. He could say, " All authority is given unto me in
heaven and in earth." " Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh." The power exercised by Jesus Christ is delegated
power ; He will exercise it in His Father's name, and for
His Father's glory. He will magnify His power in keeping
us in the midst of danger and temptation. What lively
faith the apostles expressed in the ability of Christ to save
His people. "He is able to make all grace to abound
toward you " (2 Cor. ix. 8). " He is able to succour them
that are tempted" (Heb. ii. 18). "He is able to save to

EXPOSITION XII. 89

ihe uttermost '" (Hel). vii. 25), that is, from the beginning of
conversion to the crowning of glory. " He is able to do
exceeding abundantl)- above all that we ask or think"
(Eph. iii. 20). " He is able to keep that which we have
committed unto Him'" (2 Tim. i. 12). What lively concep-
tions these passages give us of the all-sufficiency of Christ.
\\'e belie\e that He is able in the exercise of His power to
keep us from falling 7iow, and always, in all the circum-
stances of this life. We have confidence, that we shall be
holden up, for God is able to make us stand." He will
magnify His grace and power in our weakness, while the
wise and strong in their own strength and wisdom stumble
and fall. He will keep us from falling, and give us ability
to stand against all the wiles and temptations of the devil.
"Keep me, and I shall be kept; hold me up, and I shall
be safe."

(2.) Tlie Lord Jesus is able to keep us because of t]ie wisdom
with ivhicli He is oidcnved. He is the only wise God, not
merely wise, but the only wise God, and knows what means
to employ for our preservation. We love to think of tlic
infinite intelligence of Jesus. He knows every snare which
is laid for the feet of His people, every device of Satan
against them, everything that can happen — all is plain to
Him : there is nothing that can possibly be hidden from
His eye. His eye never slumbers. He knows all the
dangers that beset our path through this world ; another
thing, he knows our own evil tendencies through which we
might be induced to fall and go out of the way. And as
Christ knows all about us, our dangers, trials, and tenden-
cies. He knows what means to use to defend, uphold, and
save us. In our perplexity, when not knowing which way
to turn, it is well to remember that God our Saviour is the
only 07ie capable of keeping us ; we have neither wisdom to
guide, nor strength to keep ourselves ; but He has both
power and wisdom, and is ready to exercise both in guiding
and guarding us through the deceitful and perplexing path
of life.

90 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APO^^TACY.

Oh, Ijcloved, if God our Saviour is all wise to see our
dangers, and all powerful to carry us through them, let us
quietly commit ourselves to His keeping. Have we not
had proofs in the past of His power to keep and of His
wisdom in keeping ? He who has kept us in the past will
not fail us in the future. He is faithful, and will keep us
by His Spirit and by His word from evil. But to realise
this Divine keeping, there must be faith on our part. We
"are kept by the power of God through faith'' God does not
keep us as we would guard a treasure that is unconscious of
our care. We realise His watchful, loving care over us as
the result of our trust in Him, and not independent of it.
Let us trust Him moment by moment to keep us for Him-
self, that He may fulfil in us the good pleasure of His will
and the work of faith with power.

(3.) The Lord Jesus is able not only to keep us from
falling, but to fit and prepare us for His glorious presence
iiereafter. He is "able to present you faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy." How wonderful
to know that He is able to do this — able to keep us faithful
in the midst of unfaithfulness, to keep us free from contam-
ination in the midst of corruption, to sanctify us wholly,
spirit, soul, and body ; and to keep us holy and without
blame before Him in love (Eph. i. 4). How blessed to
know that our Saviour is able to purify us nozv^ and to
glorify us then — to make us like Himself here, and to take
us to Himself, to His own presence and company hereafter.
This is the purpose of His grace concerning us, and He
is able to accomplish it.

He intends^ blessed be His name, to present us, even us,
faultless before the presence of His glory. "Faultless!"
not in the eye of men and angels only, but in the all-seeing
eye of the Lord Himself. He will see in us no sin to be
judged, that has been put away for ever ; no folly left for
Him to find fault with: no charge to be brought against us.
We shall be without fault before the throne of God (Rev.
xiv. 5). This is the ultimate design of His grace, and it is for

EXPOSITION XII. 91

////\, Christian reader, tliat we who were sometime ahenated
and enemies in mind l)y wicked works, yet now hath He
reconciled in tlie body of His flesh through death, to present
us holy and unhlaiiieabk and i/nreproveab/e in His sight (Col.
i. 21, 22).

This act of presentation will be His own. He will
present us to Himself in the day of His glory. This is the
animating prospect brought before us. He says to those
espoused to Him, " I will come again," in fulfilment of My
promise "to take you to Myself." "Father, I will that they
also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am,
that they may behold My glory." We shall stand in the
presence of His glory, and be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is ; the light of His face will beam upon us, and
we shall be glorious in His glory.

It is added that Christ will do this "with exceeding joy."
He will rejoice in us and over us, and present us to Him-
self with much joy, exultation, and triumph. This is the
joy set before Him when He endured the cross, despising
the shame ; this is the reward for the travail of His soul ;
this is the satisfaction anticipated. He has an interest in
us which no one else can have. He loves us as no other
can love us, and He will rejoice when we are brought into
the presence of His glory as none but He can.

//. The doxohr^jy directed to God our Saviour both here
and hereafter. " Now unto Him . . . the only wise God
our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both fio7u and ever. Amen." It becomes us to give to
Jesus the credit, the honour, the praise of being able
to keep us from falling, to purify us from sin and pollution,
and to glorify us in His presence in the day of His appear-
ing. Praise is the natural expression of grateful, joyous
feelings. Praise is not forced. It is spontaneous and
intelligent. Those who know the Lord and have been
"strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man,"
and shared His grace, cannot keep silent. A conviction of
duty forbids it. A sense of obligation forbids it. A regard

92 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

for their own interest forljids. The soul filled with admira-
tion of the power and grace of God must find vent in
praise.

When are we to begin to sing this doxology ? The voice
of Jude says, 7wu<. We are not to withhold the gratitude
of our hearts and the praise of our lips till our dangers are
past, and our deliverances complete. Surely not. We
must give glory to Christ now, that is, all our life long. " I
will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually
be in my mouth." However He deal with me, He is
worthy of my confidence and love. It was the disposition
and habit of the apostles to celebrate the glory of God their
Saviour. They could not sound the note too high, or praise
Him too much. In the doxologies interwoven in their
epistles we find the highest tribute of praise and glory
given to Christ Jesus in conjunction with God the Father,
teaching us that Jesus as a Divine person is justly entitled
to the same supreme homage and worship as is offered to
the Father. There can be no doubt that Paul and Peter,
Jude and John, were wont to offer their highest tribute of
praise and adoration to Jesus, their glorified Lord.

It may be interesting to refer to a few of the many
doxologies which they rendered heart and soul to God our
Saviour. St. Paul in opening his Epistle to the Galatians,
refers to the work of Christ on the cross, that He gave
Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this
present evil world, and closes this statement of doctrine
with the doxology. "To whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen." The same apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians,
prays most fervently that they may be rooted and grounded
in Christ, and filled with His Spirit, and then lifts his spirit
up in praise and adoration to the Lord : "Now unto Him
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, through
all ages world without end. Amen " (Eph. iii. 20, 21). In
writing to the Philippians, Paul expresses his confidence in

EXPOSITION Xll. 93

the resources of God to meet their spiritual needs. " But
my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God our Father be
glory for ever and ever. Amen." In the thirteenth chapter
of the Epistle to the Hebrews there is an ascription of
glory to Jesus, the once crucified, but now exalted Shepherd
of the sheep, "To whom," says the apostle, in loving
adoration, " be glory for ever and ever. Amen." The
apostle, in writing to Timothy, speaks in the most affecting
terms of the riches of Divine grace towards himself as the
chief of sinners ; and as he reviews the stupendous mercy
that made him a minister of the Gospel he once sought to
destroy, he gives vent to his grateful feelings in the sublime
doxology : " Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible,
the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
Amen" (i Tim. i. 17). At a later period words of con-
fidence flow from the lips of " Paul the aged." "The Lord
shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me
unto His heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen" (2 Tim. iv. 18). The Spirit in the apostle
ascribes to Jesus, the blessed and only Potentate, " honour
and power everlasting." The Apostle Peter was wont to
offer his adorations to Jesus. The prayer for believers is
accompanied with a doxology (see i Peter v. 10, 11). The
exhortation in his second Epistle to grow in grace, and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is
followed with the words, " To Him be glory, both now and
for ever." We come now to Jude's magnificent doxology :
"To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." The
more this inspired ascription of praise to God our Saviour
is examined, the more it is calculated to excite our reverence
and admiration. It is a four-fold ascription of praise ; each
word is full of meaning and noteworthy.

(i.) Glory is ascribed io Hi))i. "Unto Him be glory."
All that love Him will agree to give Him glory now, and
glory for ever. We cannot add to His glory, but we can

94 JUDE'S EPISTLE OF A POST A CY.

speak of it, we can glorify Him in our actions and praise
Him by our lips. This He claims of us, and assures us
that He is glorified thereby. " Who offereth praise glori-
fieth Me." We are constantly called upon to exalt the
Lord, to bless and to magnify Him. " Give unto the Lord,
O ye saints of His, give unto the Lord the praise due to
His name. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto
the Lord glory and strength ; give unto the Lord the glory
due to His name " (Psa. xxix. i, 2). This ascription of
glory to Him excludes self. Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but to Thy name, give glory. Thine, O Lord, is
the glory.

(2.) Majesty is ascribed to Him. The apostles were
" eye-witnesses of His majesty." We see Him by faith
seated on the right hand of God. The sight fills us with
delight. Honour and majesty are laid upon Him. Glory
and majesty are His, and in that glory and majesty He will
appear at His second coming. It will be manifest then that
He is the only Potentate, King of kings and Lord of
lords. To Him all the redeemed will ascribe kingly beauty
and excellence. " Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the
power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty . . .
Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as
head over all " (i Chron. xxix. 11).

(3.) Doiiii)iioii is asc7-ibc.i to Him. It rightly belongs to
Him, that is unbounded dominion over all creation.
Dominion over death. Dominion over the devil. Dominion
over His enemies. Dominion over His people. Dominion
over angels, principalities, and powers. His dominion is
universal and everlasting. " The Father hath put all
things under His feet." He is head and Lord over all.
He rules and governs all. Men may doubt and deny
His Lordship, but we can say with Jude, Unto Him be
dominion for ever. The hour is coming when His
sovereignty as Ciod-man will be universally acknowledged
among men.

(4). Power is ascribed to Him. It is our joy to know

EXPOSITION XII. 95

that the Lord Jesus, our God and Saviour, is in posses-
sion of unhmited power. Power to command angels and
to control devils. Power to suhdue His enemies and make
them His footstool. Power to do what He has said — to
execute His threatenings and to fulfil His promises. Power
to give strength to them that have no might ; power to
establish His people ; power to make them perfect in every
good work ; power to keep His people for the inheritance
He has destined for them. He is, therefore, worthy of our
confidence and of our praise. Who is worthy, if He is
not ? And on whom shall Divine honours be bestowed if
not on Him? There is none like Him, none so worthy to
receive glory and majesty, dominion and power.

Jesus is worthy to receive,

Honoui" and power divine ;
And blessings more than we can give,

Be, Lord, for ever Thine.

The perpetuity of this anthem of praise is clearly indicated
in the words, ^^ both noiv and ever.'" This is no passing
doxology to be sung on earth and then die away and be
forgotten. No, no. It begins on earth, and will be con-
tinued with deeper intelligence in heaven. AVe know not
what further displays of glory will be made in the future.
This we do know, that the glory, majesty, dominion, and
power of the Lord Jesus will continue, and that the redeemed
of mankind will never cease their loving adorations. As
they gaze upon Him they will be moved by new and intense
devotion " unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in His own blood ... to Him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever, Amen." (Rev. i. 5, 6). The elders and
saints in heaven owe their bliss and places of honour to the
Lamb. " Thou wast slain, and hath redeemed us to God
by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Rev. v. 9, 10).
The hosts of angels round about the throne, filled with ador-
ing wonder will join the anthem of the saints : " Worthy is the

g6 JUDES EPISTLE OF APOSTACY.

Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. x\nd
every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are
in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory,
and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Lamb for ever" (Rev. v. 12, 13).

Never shall this glory and majesty, dominion and power
cease to belong to the person of Him who is at once the Son
of Man and the Son of God ; never shall His praise cease
to be sung by all earth and heaven, by men and angels.
•' His name shall endure for ever; His name shall continue
as long as the sun ; and men shall be blessed in Him ; all
nations shall call Him blessed."

To this doxology is added the word amen, as a sanction
and confirmation .of it. To whom could such a doxology
belong but to one who is Divine. With our whole heart
we echo the amen ; so let it be. It is our desire — earnest
supreme desire — that Jesus in the glory of His Father may
not be robbed by us of His due. Here Divine honour is
rendered to Him. Is there any who doubt that this ascrip-
tion of praise is due to the person of the Son of God, let
them not say amen, but let those who know what it is to be
saved, for ever say, Amen and aiiie)i.

THE END.

London: k.vioht, printer, .middle stkeet, .alheusgate, e.c

2145RC n

Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries

1 1012 01343 4172